Hoover Building
Encyclopedia
A40 road (London)
The A40 in London is an A road in Central and West London. It runs from outside St. Paul's Cathedral to Fishguard. The A40 in London is an A road in Central and West London. It runs from outside St. Paul's Cathedral to Fishguard. The A40 in London is an A road in Central and West London. It runs...
) in Perivale
Perivale
Perivale is a small suburb in the London Borough of Ealing, west of Charing Cross, central London. Landmarks in the suburb include the A40, a large road that connects Central London with the M40 motorway, and the large Art Deco Hoover Building, as well as St Mary's Church , the River Brent and...
, West London is an example of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners
Wallis, Gilbert and Partners
Wallis, Gilbert and Partners was a British architectural partnership responsible for the design of many Art Deco buildings in the UK in the 1920s and 1930s. It was established by Thomas Wallis in 1914. Although the identity of Gilbert has not been established, later partners included Douglas...
. It is celebrated in the song "Hoover Factory" by Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
.
History
Built for The Hoover CompanyThe Hoover Company
The Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...
, the building originally housed Hoover's main UK manufacturing facility making vacuum cleaners, and employed up to 600 staff in the its offices and works. The original building (No.1) was built in 1932 and contained the main offices; before it was completed plans were being put in place to add manufacturing facilities. As staff moved into their new offices foundations were being laid for a factory block to the east of the original building; this new block came to be known as Building No.3 and was complete and fully operational by February 1933. In January 1934 plans were drawn up for an additional two storey extension on top of the factory building and by May 1934 construction was well under way. Demand for Hoover vacuum cleaners continued to grow and in 1935 Wallis, Gilbert and Partners designed a new factory (Building No.5) behind the original building. In 1938 a separate canteen and recreation centre (Building No.7) was completed to the west of the original office.
Second World War
During the Second World War the Hoover Factory manufactured electrical equipment for aircraft and tanks. The factory operated 24 hours a day, with employees working shifts. The buildings were repainted and camouflaged with netting to avoid being spotted and bombed by German aircraft. During the blitz a lookout post was set up on the roof, and was manned by members of the sales force who were too old for active service. The Hoover Company organised an evacuation scheme, and sent children of employees to live at the homes of Hoover staff in Canada.Hoover's UK expansion
After the Second World War an additional five-storey building (No.8) was built and stood to the north of the site alongside building No.5. Over the following years Hoover expanded their operations in the UK, building a new factory for cylinder vacuum cleaners in CambuslangCambuslang
Cambuslang is a suburban town on the south-eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the local authority area of South Lanarkshire. Historically, it was a large rural Parish incorporating nearby hamlets of Newton, Flemington, and Halfway. It is known as "the largest village in...
. Hoover continued manufacturing upright cleaners at the Hoover Building until the early 1980s when production was moved to the Cambuslang facility. The office remained open at the site for a few more years until it too was eventually closed and Hoover left the site. The building remained empty for many years, slowly falling into disrepair and, like many buildings of its generation, its future looked in doubt. Another one of Wallis, Gilbert and Partners' Art-Deco factories, the Firestone Building on the Great West Road (A4) in West London was demolished over a bank holiday weekend in 1980, as the owners, Trafalgar House Investments, had got wind of the listing to save the factory, which had been issued but which was granted a day too late. All that remains of the Firestone Building today is the railing around the site, some gates and lamps. The same fate could have befallen the Hoover Building, but in 1980 the original building and in 1981 the canteen block were granted a Grade II* listing.
Tesco Re-generation
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
purchased the Hoover Building and sixteen of the seventeen houses that backed onto the Hoover site. Plans were then set in motion to build a Tesco Supermarket at the rear of the site and restore the original building and canteen, and convert them into offices. Work on the site started in 1991 and included the demolition of Buildings No.5 and 8. Construction of the new supermarket started in January 1992 and was completed in November 1992. Tesco worked closely with English Heritage during design and construction on the site. The new supermarket includes lots of design nods to the original building. The entrance to the supermarket mirrors the fan window design of the Hoover Building's front entrance.
See also
- India Tyre Factory India of InchinnanIndia of Inchinnan is now a commercial site in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland, that was formerly used for various industrial uses. It includes the former office block of India Tyres of Inchinnan - a Category A listed building in the art deco style, designed in 1930 by Thomas Wallis of Wallis,...
- Carreras Building
- Golden Mile (Brentford)Golden Mile (Brentford)The Golden Mile is the name given to a stretch of the Great West Road north of Brentford running west from the western boundary of Chiswick in London, United Kingdom.It was so called due to the concentration of industry along this short stretch of road...