Modernist Britain

Standing on a roundabout at the junction of the A1004 High Street in Southgate and the A111 running east-west, Southgate Underground Station serves the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground network. The earliest Underground lines in London were constructed by the 'cut and cover' method. These tunnels were usually constructed under London's streets to avoid disturbance and potential subsidence to residential... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Between 1957 and 1958 the Royal Institute of British Architects extended its existing headquarters at 66 Portland Place in Central London to meet the expanding accommodation requirements of the organisation. The extensions - both upwards and outwards - were designed to harmonise with the existing Modernist building, designed by British architect George Grey Wornum. His design for 66 Portland Place... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Bowes Road (the A1110) in the London Borough of Enfield, Arnos Grove Underground Station is arguably London's most iconic underground station, and photographs of the station and have been used extensively in the media. Of all the Underground stations designed by British architect Charles Holden, Arnos Grove is perhaps the design that represents the best of his work... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Cockfosters Road (the A111) in Barnet, north London, Cockfosters Station is a station serving as the northern terminus of the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. Today, the underground system is operated as a unified system, however in the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a number of separate companies, including the Underground Electric Railways Company... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Building No 7 is part of the former Hoover Factory complex in Perivale, west London. It is one of three surviving structures from the site, built between 1932 and 1938. The site is alongside the A40 arterial route, which runs from the City of London to Fishguard in Wales. Building No 7 is next to the former main office building.... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing alongside the A40, to the west of Central London, the Hoover Building is a remarkable landmark for commuters and visitors to London using this main arterial route into the city. Originally built for the American Hoover Company, the factory on Western Avenue was built as a manufacturing base for the company's British vacuum cleaner division. The factory comprised a complex... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Bramley Road (the A110) in Enfield, north London, Oakwood is a station serving the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. It is the penultimate station on the northern section of the line. Oakwood briefly served as the northern terminus during the construction of the Piccadilly Line, before Cockfosters station, today's terminus, was completed in 1933. The expansive underground network of... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on the corner of Portland Place and Weymouth Street near to London's Regents Park, 66 Portland Place is an impressive Art Deco office building serving as the headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The RIBA, founded in 1834, is the professional body for architects in the United Kingdom. The RIBA received its Royal Charter in 1837.... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on the corner of Royal Parade and North Street in the centre of Belfast (less than half a mile north of Donegall Square and the City Hall) the former Sinclair's Department Store is a fine example of Modernist architecture in Ireland, in the Art Deco style. Sinclair's was once one of Belfast's most prestigious department stores. The store on Royal... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on the corner of Royal Parade and North Street in the centre of Belfast (less than half a mile north of Donegall Square and the City Hall) the former Bank of Ireland Building is one of the finest Modernist buildings in Ireland. The building was constructed during 1929 and 1930 to designs by Joseph Vincent Downes. Born in 1891, Downes... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing at the junction of Bollo Lane and Acton Lane in Chiswick, West London, Chiswick Park Station is a station serving the District Line on London Underground. The Underground Electric Railways Company of London operated a numebr of lines, including the Northern and Piccadilly Lines, and since 1902 the company had also owned the Metropolitan District Railway, for which Chiswick... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Alexandra Avenue in Harrow, Middlesex, the former Grosvenor Cinema was built in 1936 for the Grosvenor cinema company. The cinema was designed by Frank Ernest Bromige LRIBA (1902-1979). Bromige was a London-based architect practising, at the time, out of Kingly Street in Westminster. His works in London include the former Kingsland Empire in Dalston, the Dominion Acton (later... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Western Avenue, which runs west out of London, Park Royal Station serves the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. This saw large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which operated a number of underground lines including the Northern and... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on the Great West Road, which runs west out of London to Bristol, Osterley Station is a station serving the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. This saw large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which operated a number of... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Boston Manor Road in Brentford, close to Junction 4 of the M4 Motorway in London, Boston Manor Station is a station serving the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. This saw large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Greenford Road in Sudbury, west London, Sudbury Hill Station is a station serving the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. This saw large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which operated a number of underground lines including the Northern... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Station Approach, off Harrow Road and a mile west of Wembley Stadium in west London, Sudbury Town Station is a station serving the Piccadilly Line on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. This saw large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, which... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Alexandra Avenue in Harrow, Middlesex, Rayners Lane Station is a station serving both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. Large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (which operated a number of underground lines including the Central... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Field End Road in Ruislip, Middlesex, Eastcote Station is a station serving both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines on London Underground. In the early 1930s public transport in London was operated by a multitude of separate companies. Large companies such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (which operated a number of underground lines including the Central... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Hampstead Road in North London, opposite Mornington Crescent tube station and half a mile north of Euston Road, the Arcadia Works was built between 1926 and 1928 for the Carreras Tobacco Company. The company was established in 1788 and started business in London in the mid-1850s. By 1907 the company had a large works on City Road (which... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Tooley Street, near to HMS Belfast and on the south side of London Bridge in central London, St Olaf House was built between 1928 and 1932 for the Hay's Wharf Company. The Hay's Wharf Company was founded in 1867 ane operated warehouses and wharves on the Thames in London. St Olaf House was built on the site of... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Throughout Greater London there are many Modernist multi-use buildings. Lion House on Red Lion Street in Richmond, Surrvey is a fine example of such an building, built very much for utilitarian purposes. Lion House stands in the centre of Richmond just off the central Hill Street/George Street thoroughfare. Like so many Modernist buildings in Britain Lion House provides a contrast to... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Standing on Red Lion Square just off High Holborn in central London, Summit House was built in 1925 for the Austin Reed Company. The Austin Reed menswear company was founded in 1900 and by the 1920s had a flagship store on London's Regent Street. The company commissioned the architectural practice of Westwood & Emberton to design a London headquarters for... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Throughout London there are many Modernist houses and apartment buildings. Trinity Court on Gray's Inn Road near to Farringdon in central London is a fine example of such an apartment building. Trinity Court stands in front of the St Andrew's Holborn Burial Ground dating from 1754 (now a public garden). It provides a contrast to the traditional buildings on Grays... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The former Odeon cinema on Penel Orlieu in Bridgwater, Somerset was designed by British architect Thomas Cecil Howitt (1889 - 1968). Howitt designed a number of cinemas - at Bridgwater, Clacton, Warley,and Weston-super-Mare - for the Odeon chain. Howitt had previously worked in Nottingham city engineer's department and later in private practice in the same city. His design at Bridgwater aped... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The Odeon cinema in Weston-super-Mare stands on the corner of Walliscote Road and Regent Street, a quarter of a mile from the sea front of the North Somerset town. The building is an imposing structure and arguably one of the finest buildings constructed for the Odeon cinema chain. The building was designed by British architect Thomas Cecil Howitt (1889 - 1968).... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Pinner Court and the neighbouring Capel Gardens (illustrated above) lie on Pinner Road in the Middlesex town of Pinner. They were both designed by local architect H J Mark and built by the Courtenay Property Company Limited. H J Mark worked locally, having designed much of nearby Eastcote town centre and a number of fine buildings at neighbouring Rayners Lane. The... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The former Odeon cinema in Leicester is a striking building, designed by Harry Weedon and Robert Bullivant from Odeon's favoured architectural practice. The cinema stands on a corner site at the junction of Rutland Street and Queen Street in Leicester. The cinema housed a single screen and seating for nearly 2,200 customers. It opened on 28 July 1938 and remained... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The former Odeon Cinema, located on Baxtergate in Loughborough, is a fine, surviving building from the Odeon Cinema chain. Modernist architecture was almost exclusively used by Deutsch. The chain, started by Oscar Deutsch with its first cinema in Perry Barr in Birmingham owned in excess of 250 cinemas prior to the Second World War. Like many of the early Odeon cinemas... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The former Odeon Cinema, located on Clarence Place in Newport, Gwent, is a remarkable, surviving building from the Odeon Cinema chain. The chain, started by Oscar Deutsch with its first cinema in Perry Barr in Birmingham owned in excess of 250 cinemas prior to the Second World War. Modernist architecture was almost exclusively used by Deutsch; only local planning constraints... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Broadcasting House, on Portland Place in London, was designed by architects George Val Myer and Watson Hart for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The interiors were designed by architect Raymond McGrath. It was Britain's first purpose-built broadcasting facility including offices and radio studios. The building comprises a steel frame construction clad in Portland stone rising for nine stories. The building... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Ideal House in London stands on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street, just off Regent Street. Ideal House was designed by architects Raymond Hood and Gordon Jeeves for the American National Radiator Company. The design was inspired by the American Radiator Building on Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York designed by Raymond Hood and John Howells and... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The Odeon Cinema Dudley was built on a plot opposite Dudley Castle and opened on 28 July 1937. The cinema stands on Castle Hill, which rises from Birmingham Road to Dudley Town Centre. The cinema was designed by Harry Weedon and Budge Reid of the Weedon Partnership in the Odeon house style. The general outline of the design is similar... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

The former Odeon Cinema stands on Skinner Street in the centre of Wolverhampton. The Mayor Of Wolverhampton, Sir Charles Mander, officially opened the cinema on 11 September 1937. The cinema was designed by Harry Weedon and P.J. Price. The design was distinguished by a main tower. Set on the left hand side of the building the tall, slender tower features... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

Located at the convergence of six roads in Kingstanding in Birmingham, the Odeon cinema stands out as a dramatic building as it is the tallest building within the locality. As the cinema is surrounded on both sides by roads it dominates the environment. Designed by Harry Weedon and Cecil Clavering and built between 1935 and 1936, the cinema is one... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco

One company more than any other in Britain brought Modernist architecture to the attention of towns and cities across the country. The Odeon cinema chain owned in excess of 250 cinemas prior to the Second World War. Oscar Deutsch had commissioned the firm of Weedon Partnership to design a cinema in Perry Barr, Birmingham. The style of that cinema was... Read more »
Tags: Art Deco