Description

WILBURY ROAD 1. 5255 No 158 TL 2133 6/156 II* 2. 1905 by John A Brodie. One of the most significant of the early Letchworth buildings both for its style and its construction. The flat roof and plain surfaces suggest affinities with pioneering work of the International Style, but the incipient classical detailing and fenestration link it to Art Nouveau and in particular Garniers 'Cite Industrielle'; The building is radically constructed using precast, reinforced concrete panels, floor and roofing elements, with the joinery cast in-situ. Two storeys. One window with recessed one window entrance bay. Conservatory extension on west side. Flat or slightly pitched roof with tall, decorated red chimney pots. Bracketted cornice with Greek fret frieze and blocking course. Architraved 2 and 3 light casement windows with cornices and glazing bars; first floor with oriel window. Corner entrance with flat roofed verandah carried on square column. The catalogue of the 1905 Cheap Cottage Exhibition states "This system of building was originally designed by Mr Brodie with the special object of providing a thoroughly sanitary and economical building, suitable in every way for the housing of the poorest classes displaced owing to the demolition of insanitary areas in Liverpool. The benefits of the system can be most fully obtained where the work to be carried out is on a considerable scale, and where approximate repetition in size of slabs is possible." (Brodie was City Engineer of Liverpool). Graded II*, as one of the earliest completely prefabricated systems in reinforced concrete in this country and one of the earliest in existence for domestic buildings.

Listing NGR: TL2187333701

External Links

• Wikidata Q17554897

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