Now named the Manoukian Music Centre after prominent philanthropist and businessman Vatche Manoukian, who funded the School’s refurbishment of the site for music education, this building began life as a drill hall. Intended for soldiers to meet, train, and store equipment, the Tufton Street drill hall was designed as the headquarters of the 23rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1899.
In 1908 the unit became the home of the 2nd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment. Men from the battalion were mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914, first deployed on railway guarding duties before being reassigned to the Western Front. In 1937, the London Regiment was broken up and battalions were reallocated, with the Tufton Street drill hall being used by the 9th (2nd City of London) Battalion. When they were placed in suspended animation, the hall went unused until it was converted into office space in the 1980s. It was purchased and subsequently refurbished by the School in the early 2000s.
