Unilever House
Unilever House of the Blackfriars Bridge, view from south
Unilever House is a Grade II listed office building (Grade II) in the neoclassical art deco style, on the New Bridge Street, Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, London. The building has a high, curved facade, overlooking the north bank of the River Thames and Blackfriars Bridge.
The site was previously the Bridewell Palace, the residence of Henry VIII, shows the later poorhouse and prison. These buildings were demolished in 1864 to make room for the De Keyser Hotel Royal. In 1920, leased William Lever (Lord Leverhulme ) the terrain, in order to build the London headquarters of his soap company Lever Brothers. Construction began in 1929 but; a year later the company merged with Margarine Unie to Unilever, which then gives the building its name.
Construction
It is believed that the planning and construction management a collaboration between James Lomax - Simpson, a member of the Unilever Board, on the one hand and John James Burnet and Thomas S. Tait, partner of Sir John Burnet and Partners is. However, it is uncertain who is responsible for the design; a note from Simpson claims the responsibility lies entirely for itself, suggesting that Burnet and Tait have only approved the final design. On the other hand, the plans of Burnet and Tait were issued as a joint work with Simpson at the Royal Academy, and the data stored in the City of London Record Office drawings are merely signed by Burnet and Tait.
Although John James Burnet was actively engaged in this project, he retired at the same time for health reasons, so that Tait, seems to have a leading practitioner of modern architecture, worked out the actual building design.
Architecture
The most striking main feature of the building is its enormous curved facade along the Victoria Embankment, with its giant Ionic columns between the fourth and sixth floors. The strong rustic ground floor has no windows to reduce the traffic noise inside the building. The corners are provided with inputs on large bases that sculptures of human figures, horses hold back ( Controlled energy, by Sir William Reid Dick). The figures merman and mermaid are by Gilbert Ledward. The elevators were lined with art deco tin panels by Eric Gill.
Renovation
During the renovation 1977-1983 parapet figures of Nicholas Munro and a new northern entrance hall in a Neo - Art- Deco style by Theo Crosby were created by the design studio Pentagram. The building was also extended along Tudor Street.
In 2004, the firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates began restoration work in consultation with the conservation authority English Heritage and the City Council City of London, make changes to the interior design. As part of the renovations original fittings have been retained or re-used, such as the floor or Eric Gill tin elevator panels, but Crosby's striking and historically important additions were removed. On the roof of the building a roof garden was created.
Gallery
The Unilever Monogram
Decorative details
The door
Sculpture of a man and a horse on Unilever House ( Controlled Energy, Sir William Reid Dick ), 1933, from left
Counterpart: Sculpture of a woman and a horse on Unilever House ( Controlled Energy, Sir William Reid Dick ), 1933, from the right
Unilever House, Thames and Blackfriars Bridge, London at night
Unilever House, Thames and Blackfriars Bridge, London at night