A competition has now been launched in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects to design the new headquarters on the site of the former Whitehall police station by the River Thames.

The move is part of a major move by the Met to update its estate and reinvest the savings in frontline policing.

Police chiefs estimate £50m would be needed to revamp the existing new Scotland Yard site.

The new Whitehall site – known as The Curtis Green building – has been empty for two years.

The competition with RIBA will invite architects from around the world to produce a design which will help transform the building into a modern, well equipped and efficient new police headquarters.

The Met also plans to exit around 300,000 square metres (one third) of its estate over the next three years.

This will save £85m per year on running costs by 2015/16 and £60m will be reinvested in the estate and infrastructure to support the frontline and help keep officer numbers high.

The plan will also provide up to 950 modern cells to help reduce the time it takes to process people in custody and the sale of up to 200 buildings – the vast majority of which have no public access.

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Selling off underutilised and unoccupied buildings will cut the running costs of the Met’s estate by £60 million, which will pay for 1200 extra police officers across London’s boroughs over the next three years.

‘This strategy should generate at least £300 million, which will be ploughed back into the remaining buildings so that a run down, largely Victorian police estate is fit for the 21st century.”

Further details about how to register for the Curtis Green Building design competition are available here

The deadline for receipt of expressions of interest is 2pm on Thursday 27 June 2013