The IBM Building was a cut-down version of architect Denys Lasdun’s plans for a complementary neighbour to the National Theatre on the banks of the Thames. But the shine was dulled by the IBM building across the road from the theatre. The opera house was scrapped with the National Theatre going ahead on a new site 500m down river. Riverside access was extended as far as the National Theatre and the IBM end building where it finished. By the time the IBM building was completed in 1983, architectural design had moved on.