Not the scientific Civil Service I knew! I spent almost all my career on RAF stations and, whereas I reached that same exalted rank, the accommodation was basic and not "to scale". Quite simply, the Met.Office had better things to do than fight for status symbols ........ the RAF we served alongside were not office-wallahs, and make-do and mend, 'be nice to the SWO, be nice to the MTO, be nice to the carpenters' was the way we coped regarding accommodation. Too busy to notice the surroundings!
My friend (who worked at Oakley, Cheltenham) didn't have to fight for his status symbols - the two workmen just turned up on the day after his promotion. Presumably someone somewhere had the job of reading the list of promotions and then despatching workmen to "upgrade" folk.