Event: Concrete Day
Blueprint is the media partner for a day of concrete that includes a tour of the soon-to-be redeveloped Wallis, Gilbert & Partners Vinyl Factory (EMI pressed there for many years), a talk by William Hall author of Concrete (Phaidon) and a debate on whether concrete has had its day. Heritage consultant Tim Murphy offers a potted history of the site.
For such a high-profile practice whose portfolio was as unconventional as it was controversial, very little is known about Wallis, Gilbert or 'the partners'. And yet Wallis, Gilbert and Partners were responsible for some of the UK's finest examples of industrial architecture in the first half of the 20th century.
West London's Hoover Factory might be their best-known building, but it was the unwarranted destruction of their Firestone Building in 1980, which brought 20th century structures to the public's attention. And one of the latest of Wallis's structures to be savedthrough regeneration is The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, Middlesex.
The Firestone Building
From 1901 Thomas Wallis had worked at the Office of Public Works. In 1916, when he was in his mid-40s, he entered a venture with Truscon, a British subsidiary of American company Trussed Concrete Steel (TCS), and established Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. To this day, it is not clear who Gilbert was or if he even existed.
TCS was known for its reinforced concrete system, typically employed to produce 'daylight' or masonry factories. These functional spaces comprised a steel frame with infill brick and windows. The basic design didn't have much to recommend it aesthetically, however the collaboration with Wallis resulted in the decorative embellishment of the utilitarian facade.
As the practice flourished, the daylight factories became yet more elaborate, and their designs of the mid-1920s to mid-1930s, were known as the 'Fancy Factories'.
At the same time, American companies were setting up production centres in Britain to avoid import tariffs. Wallis' practice was in a prime position to exploit this market, hence the Firestone and Hoover factories.
The architecture of Wallis, Gilbert and Partners has left a strong legacy, and their striking appearance and simple interior plans have allowed them to be regenerated. Now a supermarket, the Hoover Factory stands as a powerful example architecture as branding - the Hoover name is still as synonymous with the factory as with the product itself.
Meanwhile, new life is also being breathed into the former EMI Factory in Hayes. Now known as the Old Vinyl Factory, it's the largest collection of Wallis buildings in one place. The site, which has lain derelict for years, is currently being regenerated by Cathedral Group and Development Securities into homes, offices, a research centre, shops, restaurants and leisure facilities.
CONCRETE DAY
Come along for a free celebration and critique of concrete on 28 November at The Vinyl Lounge, the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes Middlesex The Old Vinyl Factory currently being redeveloped by Cathedral Group and Development Securities.
Free tickets are available either for the full day, or for lunch at the Old Vinyl Factory and the afternoon events. The full day starts withthe bus tour, this is limited to 50 people. If you would just like to come for lunch and the afternoon, please make your own way to the Old Vinyl Factory, which is 10 minutes' walk from Hayes & Harlington station. Hayes & Harlington is 15-20 minutes by train from Paddington.
To register for this event please go to www.concrete.eventbrite.co.uk
