Office, Eltham Palace, London

This is the office at Eltham Palace, the former royal palace where Henry VIII grew up converted and extended as a marvellous Art Deco house in the 1930s by Stephen & Virginia Courtauld.

Streatham Ice Arena

I took this photo of the Streatham Ice Arena around 2000. It opened in 1931 and closed on December 16 2011 and has since been demolished to make way for a supermarket development.

Reference:
Streatham Ice Arena, Wikipedia.com

Highpoint I, Hampstead

Highpoint I, Hampstead, Berthold Lubetkin 1933-35

Reference:
Highpoint Flats, e-architect.co.uk

Broadcasting House, London

Broadcasting House has been a part of the BBC for almost 80 years. Construction commenced in 1932 to G Val Myer's design and the building was opened in 1934.

Sculptures by Eric Gill decoration the exterior facade including Prospero & Ariel over the front entrance.

Reference:
BBC Buildings - Broadcasting House, The BBC Story

National Audit Office, London

In 1938, architect Albert Lakeman designed the Imperial Airways Empire Terminal in Buckingham Palace Road, London.

The terminal comprises of a tall clock tower with symmetrical curving wings on either side. And above the entrance is Eric R Broadbent's sculpture Speed Wings Over the World.

The building is now occupied by the National Audit Office.

Reference:
Imperial Airways Empire Terminal by Chris Taylor, taylorempireairways.com

Curls, Hoover Building, London

I love the curl decoration on the Hoover Building (Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, 1932) in Perivale, West London.

Entrance, Hoover Building, London

This is the main entrance to the 1932 Hoover Building by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. The doorway is dominated by an amazing decorative feature two storeys high incorporating two separate of clear glazed panels.

And the windows are just as stunning from the inside.

Foyer Details, Hoover Building, London

I hope you've enjoyed seeing inside the Hoover Building in the west of London over the past few days. Designed by Wallis, Gilbert & Partners in 1933 it is a true Art Deco gem.

I'll be taking a short break to hunt down some more fabulous Art Deco buildings but I hope to see you back in a couple of weeks.

Side Stairway, Hoover Building, London

Ballustrades, Hoover Building, London

A Swimming Pool in London

In 2001 I was able to see this fabulous Art Deco swimming pool at one of those private London clubs because they had decided to be part of the Open House London programme. It was great to see somewhere that under normal circumstances I would not otherwise have been able to visit.

former Ocean Hotel, Saltdean

I took these photos of the former Ocean Hotel in Saltdean around 2001. It was opened as he Ocean Hotel in 1938 but was taken over by the Auxiliary Fire Service during WWII and later became a fire service college. In 1952 the lease was acquired by Billy Butlin and operated as a Butlins Holiday Centre until 1999 when it was sold to the Grand Hotel Group and it remained as a hotel until 2005. Since then the Grade II Listed main building has been converted into apartments.

References:
Butlins Ocean Hotel, Saltdean, Butlins Memories.

A House in Saltdean

An interesting Modernist house in Saltdean in the south of England.

Onslow Court, Worthing

Onslow Court, Worthing

Bedroom, Eltham Palace

Bedroom, Eltham Palace

Dreamland, Margate

The Dreamland cinema was opened on 22 March 1935. It was designed by architects, J R Leathart, W R Granger and J B Iles.

It survived as a single auditorium cinema until 1973 when the balcony was converted into twin cinemas and the stalls area converted into a bingo hall.

My photo dates from 2001 when the cinemas and bingo hall were still open. Both cinemas and the bingo closed in 2007.

References:
Art Deco Super-Cinemas of Margate, Margate Museum Fact Sheet No. 5
Lost Bingo Halls - Dreamland Bingo Margate, Playing Bingo UK website

Caister Road Bus Depot, Great Yarmouth

I was looking through some old photos today and came across the Caister Road Bus Depot in Great Yarmouth.

According to the memories of Patrick Burnside it was the garage for the blue & cream buses of Great Yarmouth Corporation Transport. By the time these photos were taken in around 2001 the buses were still blue and cream (although more cream than blue) but 'The Corporation' was long gone.

The red brick bulk of the building is broken up by vertical fins running either side of the garage openings and there are three panels showing different forms of transport.

There's ...

a carriage ...

a very early steam train ...

but my favourite is the blue Routemaster style bus.

Reference:
Great Yarmouth Corporation Transport by Patrick Burnside, Our Great Yarmouth website

House, Frinton-on-Sea

A modernist house in Frinton-on-Sea.

Pyrene Building, Brentford

This is the Pyrene Building in what has been dubbed Brentford's 'Golden Mile' of Art Deco factory buildings along the Great West Road. The infamous Firestone Building stood across the road, Gillette Corner is nearby and, what is now the UK Head Office of J C Decaux is next door.

Wallis, Gilbert & Partners designed the Firestone factory around 1928 and the Pyrene Building in the years immediately following that. Then, in the early 1930s they designed one of west London's other deco greats, the Hoover Building.

I can see influences for the Hoover Building in the details Pyrene Building. The curly cue features on the central tower appear at ground level on the Hoover Building but also the colours around the doors and the design of the lamps are also reminiscent of Hoover.

References:
archINFORM - Firestone Tyre Factory
archINFORM - Pyrene Building
archINFORM - Hoover Factory