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

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27082258

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living