Since its formation, the institute has had its headquarters in London. The early meetings of the Physical Society of London were hosted in South Kensington, until a permanent base was found in Burlington House in 1894. In 1927, the Institute of Physics acquired, rent-free, 1 Lowther Gardens; it was joined there by the Physical Society in 1939. During the Second World War, the institute moved temporarily to the University of Reading. After the war, the institute returned to London, first to 19 Albemarle Street, where it stayed for little over a year, before moving to 47 Belgrave Square in December 1946. The Physical Society continued to be based in Lowther Gardens until 1960. The institute moved to 76 Portland Place in 1996.