British industrial architecture

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Art Deco and "Bypass Modern": the Hoover Building by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners on the A40 main road in Perivale, London, 1932–1935 has aroused varying responses over the years.[1]

British industrial architecture has been created, mainly from 1700 onwards, to house industries of many kinds in Britain, home of the Industrial Revolution in this period. Both the new industrial technologies and industrial architecture soon spread worldwide. As such, the architecture of surviving industrial buildings records part of the history of the modern world.

Some industries were immediately recognisable by the functional shapes of their buildings, as with

network of railways, contributing landmark structures such as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Ribblehead Viaduct
.

New materials made available in large quantities by the newly-developed industries enabled novel types of construction, including

Venetian Gothic. Others sought to impress with scale, such as with tall chimneys as at the India Mill, Darwen. Some directly celebrated the modern, as with the "heroic"[2] Power House, Chiswick, complete with statues of "Electricity" and "Locomotion". In the 20th century, long white "By-pass modern" company headquarters such as the Art Deco Hoover Building
were conspicuously placed beside major roads out of London.

Industrial revolution

Early works

From around 1700,

Philip de Loutherbourg's 1801 painting Coalbrookdale by Night. The Iron Bridge influenced engineers and architects around the world, and was the first of many large cast iron structures. The gorge is now a World Heritage site.[3][4]

  • Remains of Abraham Darby's Bedlam Furnaces, Coalbrookdale, built c. 1700
    Remains of Abraham Darby's Bedlam Furnaces, Coalbrookdale, built c. 1700
  • Coalbrookdale by Night by Philip de Loutherbourg, 1801
    Coalbrookdale by Night
    by Philip de Loutherbourg, 1801
  • The Iron Bridge, designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, built 1777–9 using iron sections cast at Coalbrookdale
    The Iron Bridge, designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, built 1777–9 using iron sections cast at Coalbrookdale

Growth

From 1700, Britain's economy was transformed by industrialisation, growth in trade, and numerous discoveries and inventions, making it the first country to take this step. The working population grew rapidly, especially in the north of England. The Industrial Revolution brought large-scale

tanneries; these advanced technically but did not create many large buildings because the industry was evenly distributed across the country, though multi-storey corn mills appeared around 1800 as war raised grain prices.[5] Murrays' Mills, Manchester was begun in 1798, forming the longest mill range in the world; the cotton mills were conveniently placed on the Rochdale Canal, giving access to the 18th century industrial transport network.[6]

  • The multi-storey corn mill, Stamford Bridge, c. 1800[7]
    The multi-storey corn mill, Stamford Bridge, c. 1800[7]
  • Murrays' Mills (for cotton) on the Rochdale Canal, Manchester, begun in 1798, and then forming the longest mill range in the world[6]
    Murrays' Mills (for cotton) on the Rochdale Canal, Manchester, begun in 1798, and then forming the longest mill range in the world[6]

Transport network

Industrial growth was accompanied and assisted by the rapid development of a nationwide canal network able to carry heavy goods of all kinds.[8] Canals were cut so as to connect producers to their customers, for example the 1794 Glamorganshire Canal linking the Welsh ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil to the harbour at Cardiff. This spurred rapid industrialisation of the South Wales Valleys.[9] The engineer Thomas Telford undertook some major canal works, including between 1795 and 1805 the 126 feet (38 m) high Pontcysyllte Aqueduct that enables the Llangollen Canal to cross the River Dee, Wales, and between 1803 and 1822 the Caledonian Canal linking a chain of freshwater lochs across Scotland with the enormous Neptune's Staircase, a series of eight large locks, each 180 feet (55 m) long by 40 feet (12 m) wide, that together enable barges to climb 64 feet (20 m).[10]

  • Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee, Wales, 1795–1805
    Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee, Wales, 1795–1805
  • Pontcysyllte Aqueduct engraved by Edward Francis Finden from a drawing by Robert Batty, 1823
    Pontcysyllte Aqueduct engraved by Edward Francis Finden from a drawing by Robert Batty, 1823
  • Telford's Neptune's Staircase of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal, 1803–1822
    Telford's Neptune's Staircase of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal, 1803–1822
  • View up Neptune's Staircase from near Loch Linnhe
    View up Neptune's Staircase from near Loch Linnhe

Shipbuilding

Chatham Dockyard on the River Medway in Kent constructed and equipped ships of the Royal Navy from the time of Henry VIII for more than 400 years, using the most advanced technology for its ships and its industrial buildings.[11][12]

  • Chatham Dockyard: from right to left (south to north) on river bank are: two Anchor Wharf Storehouses (Rope House behind); two shipbuilding slips (and Commissioner's House with garden, and beyond, Sail and Colour Loft); two dry docks (Clock Tower Storehouse behind); the old Smithery; two more dry docks (and beyond, Masthouses and Mouldloft); more building slips and Boat Houses. In the distance, ships at anchor on Gillingham Reach. Painting by Joseph Farington, 1785.[13]
    Chatham Dockyard: from right to left (south to north) on river bank are: two Anchor Wharf Storehouses (Rope House behind); two shipbuilding slips (and Commissioner's House with garden, and beyond, Sail and Colour Loft); two dry docks (Clock Tower Storehouse behind); the old Smithery; two more dry docks (and beyond, Masthouses and Mouldloft); more building slips and Boat Houses. In the distance, ships at anchor on Gillingham Reach. Painting by Joseph Farington, 1785.[13]

No. 3 covered slip in Chatham Dockyard provides a roof over a shipbuilding slipway, enabling the timbers of the ship under construction to stay dry and sound, unlike traditional outdoor construction. Its wooden roof trusses were built in 1838.[11][14] No. 7 covered slip, built in 1852, is one of the earliest metal trussed roofs.[11]

  • Royal Navy Dockyard, Chatham: No. 3 covered slip, 1838, a shed to keep the timbers of the ship under construction dry. HMS Gannet is on left.
    Royal Navy Dockyard, Chatham: No. 3 covered slip, 1838, a shed to keep the timbers of the ship under construction dry.
    HMS Gannet is on left.
  • Interior of No. 3 covered slip, showing wooden trusses and ample light. The slipway has been backfilled to serve as a store-room.
    Interior of No. 3 covered slip, showing wooden trusses and ample light. The slipway has been backfilled to serve as a store-room.
  • No. 7 covered slip, an early metal truss roof, 1852
    No. 7 covered slip, an early metal truss roof, 1852
  • Interior of No. 7 covered slip
    Interior of No. 7 covered slip

Functional design

Some industries had easily-recognised architectural elements, shaped by the functions they performed, such as the

glassworks, the bottle ovens such as those of the Staffordshire Potteries[15] or the Royal Worcester porcelain works,[16] the tapering roofs of the oast houses that dried the hops from Kent's hop orchards,[17] and the pagoda-like ventilators of Scotch whisky distilleries.[18]

Workshop of the world

In the mid-19th century, Britain became in

iron foundries, and blast furnaces to increase greatly in size.[5]

Designed to impress

The wealth generated by the new industries enabled mill-owners to build to impress. The cotton magnate

campanile-style chimney. This was built in red, white, and black brick, topped with cornices of stone, an ornamental urn at each corner, and an ornate cresting consisting of over 300 pieces of cast iron.[20][21]

  • Eccles Shorrock's India Mill, Darwen and its 300 feet (91 m) high Italianate campanile chimney, 1867[20]
    Eccles Shorrock's India Mill, Darwen and its 300 feet (91 m) high Italianate campanile chimney, 1867[20]

Cathedrals of progress

Britain's railways, the first in the world, transformed both ordinary life and industry with unprecedentedly rapid transport. The railways showed off their importance with architecture that both referred to the past and celebrated the future.

Paddington station was designed by Brunel, inspired by Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace and the München Hauptbahnhof.[27]

  • Engraving of the opening of Newcastle Central Station, 1850
    Engraving of the opening of Newcastle Central Station, 1850
  • Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway built a hammerbeam roof for Bristol Old Station, 1841
    Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway built a hammerbeam roof for Bristol Old Station, 1841
  • Bristol Temple Meads's cathedral-like[26] main entrance, 1870s
    Bristol Temple Meads's cathedral-like[26] main entrance, 1870s
  • Paddington Station, built 1854, seen in 1904
    Paddington Station, built 1854, seen in 1904

Experimenting with styles

Industrial architects experimented freely with non-industrial styles. One of the earliest was Egyptian Revival, a style that arose in response to Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, accompanied by a scientific expedition. Joseph Bonomi designed the Temple Works flax mill offices, in Holbeck, Leeds, modelled on the Mammisi of the Dendera Temple complex, in 1836–1840.[28]

  • The Roman Mammisi at the Dendera Temple complex, Egypt
    The Roman Mammisi at the Dendera Temple complex, Egypt
  • Temple Works flax mill offices, Holbeck, Leeds, designed by Joseph Bonomi in Egyptian Revival style, 1836–1840[28]
    Temple Works flax mill offices, Holbeck, Leeds, designed by Joseph Bonomi in Egyptian Revival style, 1836–1840[28]

At

medieval castle, complete with towers and crenellation.[29]
The pumping station at Ryhope, Sunderland, was built in 1869, more or less Jacobean in style with curving Dutch gables, and an octagonal brick chimney. The architectural historian Hubert Pragnell calls it a "cathedral of pistons and brass set within a fine shell of Victorian brickwork with no expense spared".[30]

  • Medieval castle: Engine House, Stoke Newington, 1854–6[29]
    Medieval castle:
    Engine House,
    Stoke Newington, 1854–6[29]
  • Jacobean, Dutch gables: Ryhope pumping station, Sunderland, 1869
    Jacobean, Dutch gables:
    Ryhope pumping station,
    Sunderland, 1869

The Bliss Tweed Mill at Chipping Norton was designed in 1872 by George Woodhouse, a Lancashire mill architect. It is constructed of local limestone, and despite its 5 storeys, is grandly[31] modelled to resemble a Charles Barry type English country house, with the addition of the dominant chimney stack, "a sophisticated aesthetic solution to a functional requirement".[32] The chimney and curved stairwell tower are offset from the centre of the building, while the corners are balustraded and topped with urns.[31] The

Venetian Gothic on the Doge's Palace in Venice.[34]

  • English country house: Bliss Tweed Mill, Chipping Norton, 1872[32]
    English country house:
    Bliss Tweed Mill,
    Chipping Norton, 1872[32]
  • Venetian Gothic: Templeton Carpet Factory, Glasgow, 1892
    Venetian Gothic:
    Templeton Carpet Factory,
    Glasgow, 1892

Landmark structures

Some industrial structures have become landmarks in their own right. The

gasholders, their iron cage frames now surviving in some places around the country as memorials to long-vanished industry (such as the Bromley-by-Bow or Oval gasholders).[37]

  • Ribblehead Viaduct, designed by John Sydney Crossley, 1876
    Ribblehead Viaduct, designed by John Sydney Crossley, 1876
  • Nos. 4 and 5 Gasholders, Kelvindale, Glasgow, 1893[38]
    Nos. 4 and 5 Gasholders, Kelvindale, Glasgow, 1893[38]

Moving towards the modern

The

electric tram and her hand on a winged wheel.[2]

  • The Power House, Chiswick, 1901: the "early, heroic era of generating stations"[2]
    The Power House, Chiswick, 1901:
    the "early, heroic era of generating stations"[2]
  • 'Electricity' and 'Locomotion' above the London United Electrical Tramway Company's Power House doorway
    'Electricity' and 'Locomotion' above the London United Electrical Tramway Company's Power House doorway

Arts and Crafts factory building".[39] It faces Sandersons' more conventional 1893 red brick factory across a narrow street.[39][40] Charles Holden's modernist station buildings for the London Underground freely combined cylinders with flat planes. An example is his "futuristic"[41] 1933 Arnos Grove tube station, which has a brightly-lit circular ticket hall in brick with a flat concrete roof.[42][41]

New types of construction

Alongside new styles of architecture came novel types of construction. William T. Walker's 1903–1904 Clément-Talbot car factory[b] on Barlby Road, Ladbroke Grove, had a traditional-looking office entrance in William and Mary style, built of red brick with stone pilasters, cornice, the Talbot family crest, and Porte-cochère. The impressive frontage gave access to a vaulted marble-floored entrance hall that was used as a car showroom, while the main factory building behind it was an early reinforced concrete structure.[43][44][45] The availability of new materials such as steel and concrete in industrial quantities enabled radically new designs, such as the Tees Transporter Bridge. It has concrete foundations, poured in shafts dug using caissons, down to bedrock far below the high tide mark; the bridge structure is of steel, with granite piers.[46][47]

Between the wars, 1914 to 1945

"By-pass modern"

The "daylight factory" concept, with long sleek buildings and attractive grassed surroundings, was brought in from America, starting in

Great West Road in Brentford, West London, earning them the name of "by-pass modern" factories. A well-known exemplar is Wallis, Gilbert and Partners' 1932–1935 Hoover Building in the Art Deco style; it was at the time derided for "its overtly commercial character", but is now Grade II-listed.[5] The architectural historian Hubert Pragnell describes it as "the cathedral of modernism" and "an icon of 1930s design".[1]

  • The Pyrene Building, Great West Road, Brentford, 1929–30
    The Pyrene Building, Great West Road, Brentford, 1929–30
  • Coty Cosmetics Factory, Great West Road, Brentford, 1932
    Coty Cosmetics Factory, Great West Road, Brentford, 1932

Art Deco Egyptian

A distinctively different inter-war building is the

pre-stressed concrete, but it is decorated to recall the glories of ancient Egypt, after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. The company chose a black cat based on the Egyptian cat god Bastet to symbolise its brand, and placed a pair of large cat effigies beside the entrance stairs, as well as smaller cat roundels on the building.[48]

  • Columns at Panehesy's tomb, c. 1330 BC
    Columns at Panehesy's tomb, c. 1330 BC
  • Carreras Cigarette Factory, Camden, 1926–1928
    Carreras Cigarette Factory, Camden, 1926–1928
  • The pair of black cats, modelled on Bastet, guarding the factory entrance
    The pair of black cats, modelled on Bastet, guarding the factory entrance

Contemporary

Post-war

Since the Second World War, architects have created impressive industrial buildings in a range of modern or post-modernist styles. One such is the Grade II* British Gas Engineering Research Station at Killingworth, which was built in 1967 to a design by Ryder and Yates. Historic England calls it a "tour de force of post-war architecture with deliberate references to continental examples in the transformation of service elements into sculptural forms".[5] CZWG's Aztec West in the Bristol West Business Park uses horizontal stripes of brickwork interrupted by tall narrow windows and white concrete bevels to give a pilaster effect and, with its symmetrical concave-fronted buildings, an echo of Art Deco style.[49]

  • British Gas Engineering Research Station, Killingworth, 1967
    British Gas Engineering Research Station, Killingworth, 1967
  • Aztec West, Bristol, by CZWG, 1987
    Aztec West, Bristol, by CZWG, 1987

21st century

The partnership of architecture and engineering is seen in

Richard Rogers Partnership assisted by aviation architects Pascall+Watson, and the engineers were Arup for the above-ground works and Mott MacDonald for the substructures.[50][51]

  • Exposed trusses inside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, 2008
    Exposed trusses inside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, 2008

Notes

  1. ^ Gautier stated: "Ces cathédrales de l'humanité nouvelle sont les points de rencontre des nations, le centre où tout converge, le noyau de gigantesques étoiles aux rayons de fer s’étirant jusqu'au bout de la terre" (These cathedrals of new humanity are the meeting points of nations, the centre where everything converges, the nucleus of gigantic stars with iron rays stretching to the ends of the earth).[24] The futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti called them "cathédrales de notre temps" (cathedrals of our time).[25] Also note Brunel's "cathedral to the iron horse".[26]
  2. ^ The office building is now the Sunbeam Studios; the name recalls the factory's 1938 takeover by Rootes, who renamed it Sunbeam-Talbot.

References

  1. ^ a b Pragnell 2021, p. 227.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cherry & Pevsner 1991, p. 405.
  3. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 13–15.
  4. ^ "World Heritage List: Ironbridge Gorge". UNESCO. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e Historic England 2011, pp. 2–6.
  6. ^ a b Pragnell 2021, pp. 62–63.
  7. ^ Historic England. "The Corn Mill (1346427)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  8. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 153–156.
  9. ^ Thomas 1992, p. 22.
  10. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 166–167.
  11. ^ a b c Guidebook. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. 2010. pp. 1–12.
  12. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 115–123.
  13. ^ "Chatham Dockyard". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Number 3 Slip Cover (1378591)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  15. ^ Pearson 2016, pp. 128–130.
  16. ^ Pearson 2016, pp. 129–130.
  17. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 202–203.
  18. ^ Pearson 2016, pp. 94–95.
  19. ^ "Workshop of the World". Encyclopedia.com, from The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  20. ^ a b Pearson 2016, p. 32.
  21. ^ Pragnell 2021, p. 78.
  22. ^ a b Pragnell 2021, pp. 173–179.
  23. ^ Parissien 1997, p. 7.
  24. .
  25. .
  26. ^ a b c Nugent, Thomas. "Glasgow Central railway station :: Shared Description". Geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  27. ^ Jackson 1984, p. 396.
  28. ^ a b "Holbeck Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). leeds.gov.uk. p. 3. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  29. ^ a b Historic England. "Engine House Of Metropolitan Water Board (1226755)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  30. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 144–145.
  31. ^ a b Pragnell 2021, pp. 78, 82.
  32. ^ a b Historic England. "Bliss Tweed Mill (Grade II*) (1198094)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  33. ^ Pragnell 2021, p. 107.
  34. ^ History (11 October 2015). "Templeton on the Green, Glasgow's Venetian Masterpiece". Glasgow Living. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  35. ^ "Ribblehead Viaduct". Yorkshire Dales.org.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  36. ^ Historic England. "Batty Moss railway viaduct (Grade II*, scheduled) (1132228)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  37. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 49–53.
  38. ^ "No. 4 Gasholder and No. 5 Gasholder, excluding tanks and shells, Temple Gasholder Station, Strathcona Drive, Glasgow". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  39. ^ a b "Voysey House, Hounslow". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  40. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 236–238.
  41. ^ a b c Pragnell 2021, pp. 184, 220.
  42. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1358981)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  43. ^ Pearson 2016, p. 21.
  44. ^ "Sunbeam". Sunbeam Studios. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  45. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 242–243.
  46. ^ Historic England. "Winch House, Adjoining Railings, Wall, Gates and Gatepiers, C.40M South West of Transporter Bridge (1139847)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  47. ^ Historic England. "Piers, Railings and Gates at Entrance to Transporter Bridge (1139846)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  48. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 232–234.
  49. ^ Pragnell 2021, pp. 238–239.
  50. ^ Hales-Dutton, Bruce (2007). "Heathrow Looks Ahead". Airports of the World (September–October 2007): 28–33.
  51. ^ "Terminal 5 Heathrow". AJ Buildings Library. Retrieved 7 September 2021.

Sources