S&W Cafeteria, Asheville

The decoration on the former S&W Cafeteria in Asheville, North Carolina is amazing.

It is hard to know where to start. The most obvious features are the large windows at street level. Two of them arched shaped, either side of the front door and a rectangular one further to the left.

And of course there are those fabulous blue tiles on the roof. Just ignore the greenery growing between them.

There are a few design elements that are repeated in other parts of the facade.

Just below the roofline, there are a couple of zig-zag lines in blue, gold and cream punctuated with green dots.

A simplified version of this design is repeated in the metal band across the rectangular window.

And in the metal beside the arched windows.

The blue and cream chrevrons around the windows get better the closer you look.

Above the door 'S & W Cafeteria' is displayed in an ornate frame topped with a colourful basket of fruit.

The S & W Cafeteria was built in 1929 from designs by Douglas D Ellington. It seems to have been an Asheville institution for almost 5 decades until it closed in 1974.

Since then it had housed various businesses but was empty and for sale when I saw it in 2005.

So I was thrilled the other day to see an article by Mark Barrett from the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper reporting that the old S&W Cafeteria has been restored and re-opened as S&W Steak and Wine restaurant.

Looks like a win-win and I hope the citizens of Asheville appreciate this art deco gem while they are enjoying their dinner.

Chequerboard Flats, Westminister

These amazing blocks of flats were designed by Edwin Lutyens for the Grosvenor and Regency Estate around Page Street, SW1. Central London.

They date from 1928-30 and were built as social housing, more commoningly known as council flats.

The Housing Prototypes website has more detail on how Lutyens came to design these buildings and a detailled description of their structure including quite a few pictures.

Calle de Alcalá 45, Madrid

I found this building at 45 Calle de Alcalá on a short visit to Madrid.

Overall, the building is bit too block-like for me but it does have these wonderful reliefs on the facade.

The one shown on the left is at the top of the main part of the building and has a mirror image on the other side.

The one shown below on the next level down. It is much more sculptural and protrays a group of three figures. It too has a partner which while similar in execution, protrays a different group of figures.

It seems that various banks and financial organisations have used this building and you can see why they would be lured to this formidible structure.

Beach Dressing Pavillion, Williamstown

The Beach Dressing Pavillion on the Esplanade in Williamstown was built in 1936 and now provides the setting for Sirens Restaurant and Bistro.

This building echos the nautical theme almost expected by its seaside location.

There is a flagpole near the 'bow', a deck with a metal railing offering magnificent views over the Bay, portholes and a circular 'bridge' at the 'stern'.

A great example of a heritage building that has been adapted and reused with a fantastic result.

Modernist Houses in Marewa

The 1931 earthquake that brought so much destruction to the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand also created a new suburb.

A large area of marshy land near Napier was raised by the quake and became dry land. In the mid to late 1930s, the area was opened up for residential development and became the suburb of Marewa, 'raised from the sea'.

A lot of the houses in Marewa were built as single storey modernist buildings. Often rendered and painted white or a pale colour with simple stylised decoration. Low walls were also common, setting the boundary of the property without obscuring the house.

The house above has very simple geometric decoration on the corners near the roofline and a fantastic lamp in the front garden styled as a lighthouse.

Another house has a stepped roofline but the central section steps down meaning the central section of the house is lower than each side. Often the central section is the highest point of a building.

A line just below the roofline with a stepped kink at the corners is just about the only decoration although it does continue around the side of the house.

The window sills have been painted to match this line creating a nice effect. The colour is also included around the base of the building effectively grounding the house on its lot.

The house shown below is my favourite. It is a handsome building with a curved central section at the front with other rooms within the house stepped back retaining their rectangular shape.

A series of simple, triangle based, elements provide the house with its decorative signature. The door is recessed into a deep porch and the steps in front of the door, although not visible in my photo, sit out from the front of the house taking up half the width of the path leading from the driveway.

The owners have done a fantastic job with this house right down to the topiary near the mailbox and marking the path to the front door.

When you go to Napier make sure you set aside enough time to have a leisurely stroll through the art deco suburb of Marewa.

Masson House, Napier

The city of Napier, on New Zealand's North Island, is a deco lovers delight. Most of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and the subsequent rebuilding program was mostly completed in Art Deco style.

Masson House was designed by E A Williams in 1931. It is a simple elegant two storey building with row of shopfronts at street level. The upper level has a series of windows with plain, almost old-fashioned decoration. Certainly the central window, which has the most decoration appears to have come from an earlier period.

The central section of the facade sits higher than the symetrical wings. Where these two elements join, there are three steps down in height but also three steps back from the street.

The most deco elements are the relief panels on each wing with a geometric wave pattern and the name of the building on the central section in lovely stylised lettering.

Second Most Beautiful McDonald's in the World

Yesterday I wrote about the most beautiful McDonald's in the world so today I thought I would show you the second most beautiful.

It is in Taradale, New Zealand and it is one of only two Art Deco McDonald's that I know of.

Like Clifton Hill, it was originally a pub, the Taradale Hotel.

The hotel originally openned in 1869 as the Duke of Edinburgh but was destroyed by fire in 1904. Rebuilt, it suffered a worse fate in the 1931 earthquake which devastated the Hawke's Bay area. Like many buildings in nearby Napier and Hastings, the pub was again rebuilt, this time in the style of the times, Art Deco.

In 1997, McDonald's were persuaded by the Art Deco Trust to retain the building and convert it to a restaurant rather than demolish it.

I believe one of the arguments used to persuade McDonald's was the fact that the building is included in Art Deco Napier: Styles of the thirtiesa very popular book by Peter Shaw & Peter Hallett which has undergone several reprints.

Did McDonald's want a picture of the old pub with a caption describing its demise or a picture their new Taradale restaurant. Sometimes the commercial argument is the clincher when trying to preserve and reuse older buildings.

Inside some of the deco features have survived including the cornice and this wonderful ceiling decoration (shown above).

The Most Beautiful McDonald's in the World

The McDonald’s restaurant in Clifton Hill, Melbourne is the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world.

Originally the United Kingdom Hotel, it was designed by architect James Hastie Wardrop and constructed 1937-38.

It is a spectacular art deco pub consisting of a central stepped fin and curved wings with deep rounded balconies. The windows overlooking the balconies are also curved.

Bands of different coloured bricks provide decoration on the ground floor.

The original side door on the left has been bricked in and a new door cut into the side wall where there was previously a small window.

Whatever you think of McDonald’s, it is fantastic that they were persuaded to keep this wonderful building and it has served as an example to help protect other buildings including the former Taradale Hotel in New Zealand which was also converted to a McDonald’s.