Marks and Spencer and 4-10 Smithford Way, St Michael's, Coventry

Summary

A retail store designed and built for Marks and Spencer by Norman Jones Sons and Rigby, 1953-1955.

Description

Retail store designed and built for Marks and Spencer by Norman Jones Sons & Rigby, 1953-1955.

MATERIALS: reinforced concrete frame with Blockley City Mixture brick cladding, laid in English bond, with reconstituted Clipsham stone and Westmorland slate dressings, with concrete canopies.

PLAN: the building is of three storeys at the corner of the Precinct and Smithford Way; this lowers to two storeys behind this and there is a further three storey section at the rear of the Marks and Spencer premises.

EXTERIOR: the principal entrance facade faces south on to the Upper Precinct and is symmetrical and of five structural bays, as is the facade facing Smithford Way. At ground floor level are glass shop fronts which sit under a continuous concrete canopy with Westmorland Slate fascias; the canopy has sections pierced with glass lights to allow light to the pavement below and steps up on the Upper Precinct side to accommodate the changing ground level. The display windows are divided by granite-clad mullions and there are two recessed entrances at each end of the elevation facing the Precinct. These both have mosaic tiled floors and that to the east has bronze door frames.

Above the canopy on the Precinct elevation, the central three bays are slightly recessed with two rows of nine windows contained within a projecting Clipsham stone surround which has large coffered mouldings to its inner sides and soffit, and with Westmorland Slate clad mullions rising through two storeys, with Travertine panels between the floors. This central feature is flanked on either side by single square windows at each storey.

The Smithford Way elevation also has single windows at each end of the upper floors, with three pairs of windows per floor between. At first floor, the outer pairs have projecting balconies with decorative railings. The separate shop units which form the northern end of the Smithford Way block have refitted shop fronts beneath the canopy. The first floor level has Travertine panels and a row of continuous windows.

INTERIOR: the interior of Marks and Spencer is largely open throughout both floors with square piers supporting the ceiling; these have dentilled cornices and there are plain cornices to recessed ceiling panels. Stairs within the shop have metal balustrades with curving handrails. The staff restaurant area retains some timber-panelled piers and stairs throughout the service areas appear to retain original handrails.

History

The city of Coventry became a centre for engineering at the start of the C20, particularly cycle and motor car manufacture. Many of the most notable English car makers had their base in the city. This rapid influx to the centre of a medieval city with a pattern of narrow streets caused problems and the city engineer, Ernest Ford built a southern bypass and laid out Corporation Street and Trinity Street near the centre in the 1930s. Plans for rebuilding the area around the cathedral to form a civic centre were revealed in an exhibition, 'Coventry of Tomorrow' of 1939-1940, but the major air raid of 14 November 1940 destroyed large areas of the commercial centre of the city and led to a more comprehensive assessment and plan for the city's future requirements. The city architect, Donald Gibson, who was appointed in 1939, outlined a new, zoned plan in 1941 which included a large shopping centre to the west, built around a central axis which was aligned on the tower of the old cathedral.

The size of what was planned initially caused some concern to the city's Chamber of Commerce and to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, which authorised loans for compulsory purchase of land for development. The city plan was refined during the 1940s and a version, which was close to what was eventually built, was shown at the exhibition, 'Coventry of the Future' in 1945. This drew large crowds and general admiration which, in turn, prompted the Ministry to authorise grants to purchase and develop 274 acres in June 1947. The final plan was approved in 1949, but by this time work had already started on site; the Levelling Stone was place on Victory Day in 1946 and Broadgate landscaped in the following year. On 22 May 1948 Princess Elizabeth opened Broadgate Square and laid the foundation stone of Broadgate House, the first building of the new city centre.

The new Marks and Spencer building was designed by Norman Jones Sons and Rigby of Southport and was built in 1953-1955, occupying the north-east corner of the crossing between the Upper and Lower Precincts.

Reasons for Listing

The Marks and Spencer building, of 1953-1955 by Norman Jones Sons and Rigby of Southport, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building is an accomplished example of a post-war commercial building which has clear group value with the other structures of the Upper and Lower Precinct in Coventry, including Broadgate House (Grade II);
* the building has clear interest its sophisticated design, with the grand window on its principal facade and elegant detailing;
* it survives well internally, with well-designed stairs and detailing such as cornicing and sections of timber panelling.

Historic interest:

* the building is a prominent part of the pedestrian Precinct development in Coventry, the first such planned development in England;
* as a clear assertion of the spirit of the vibrant and re-born city of Coventry after the damage which it suffered in the Second World War.

External Links

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