Description

WELLS STREET, W1 TQ 2981 SW Nos 19-23 (consec) 1900-/57/12 St Margaret's House (including nos 24 & 25 Wells Mews) II GV Offices, showrooms and studio. c1929-31 by Sir Albert Richardson & Claude Lovat Gill for Sanderson's Wallpapers. Steel frame clad with 2" white bricks; rear facade clad with white faience bricks. Curved copper studio roof with later dormer windows & white brick lateral stacks. Stripped classical style. 6 storeys, the top set back. 7 bays. Ground floor with later C20 windows set between canted granite-clad columns supporting a plain fascia; left hand bay forms a vehicle entrance to the mews. A screen of white brick pilaster strips rises from the 1st to the 3rd floor, defining the window bay heads with guaged brick flat arches. Plain brick architrave and frieze area having an enriched cornice. 1st to 3rd floor metal framed casement windows, with glazing bars, treated as recessed vertical strips with fluted spandrel panels; 3rd floor casements have coved outer lights forming cheeks. Window strips separated from brickwork by narrow bands of black, Belgian marble. 4th floor set back, having similarly detailed screen to flush framed metal windows with glazing bars. Architrave & frieze area of a slightly darker brick; coved cornice. Rear facade of considerable interest with stripped classical style continued in white faience brick through 6 flush storeys with black faience bands separating similar metal framed casements from brickwork through 1st to 3rd floors; gauged brick heads. To right, under vehicle entrance, the stairs are defined by 5 storeys of windows with slanted sills and curved heads, having gauged brickwork gradually fading on left sides into brickwork of curved angle. Bay above the vehicle entrance with curved pediment, reflecting stair windows, and a lunette. The whole building was originally intended for the use of Sanderson's Wallpapers who already had a a large building to the rear, but at an early stage the application was revised to create a series of offices and showrooms for fashionable tenants. The ground floor was originally clad in "Verte Mousse" marble with thin red edgings to the windows. Winner of the RIBA 1931 London Architecture Medal which is displayed as a plaque under the carriage entrance. Rear facade, facing into mews yard, known as nos 24 & 25 Wells Mews.

Listing NGR: TQ2931581459

External Links

• Wikidata Q27082258

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