Grade I protection for London Underground’s iconic HQ

55, Broadway



First use of cruciform plan for a London office building



London Underground’s iconic HQ and the Tube station it was built over today took their place alongside Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London as one of the capital's most important buildings. 55 Broadway and St James's Park station have been awarded Grade I listed status, granting it extra protection from redevelopment and recognising its “great historical significance”. The building above the platforms, known as 55 Broadway, was built as the headquarters of London Underground. When completed in 1929 it was the tallest building in London at 174 feet. Holden also used a team of emerging young artists to embellish the building, including Eric Gill and Eric Aumonier, as well as Moore and Epstein. English Heritage said: “The sculpture significantly boosts the case for upgrading 55 Broadway to Grade I.” Ten decorative features were carved by artists into its Portland stone facade but one, called Day, had to be altered as it showed a naked boy. Its sculptor, Jacob Epstein, chiselled one-and-a-half inches from the boy's penis in a concession to Twenties sensitivities.




Henry Moore "West Wind"








Jacob Epstein "Day"



When it was completed in 1929, The London Underground's new headquarters, named after its postal address of 55, Broadway, was London's tallest office block. A skyscraper of its day, it is now dwarfed by almost every major office building in the city. But that doesn't stop it from appearing monumental. Inside it houses the headquarters of London Underground, St. James's Park Station and the small Broadway shopping arcade.





Traders protesting high rents in the Broadway shopping arcade




55 Broadway - Original Ground Floor layout



In 1926 The Underground Group commissioned 55 Broadway, over St James's Park station, as its new headquarters. It was to replace Electric Railway House, whose offices were too cramped for the growing organisation. The headquarters was to symbolise the company's vision of public transport being at the heart of London's social and commercial life. Frank Pick, assistant managing director of the Underground Group, commissioned the architect Charles Holden of the firm Adams Holden and Pearson to design the building. On its completion in 1929, 55 Broadway was the tallest building in London on one side overlooking the Houses of Parliament and on the other side overlooking Buckingham Palace. The Directors had a clear idea of their place in the world! However, building restrictions prevented the floors above the seventh being used as offices. The modern and assertive design was considered an architectural masterpiece with the cruciform layout enabling natural light and ventilation throughout. It was awarded the London Architectural Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1929.




Charles Holden 1875 - 1960



Designed by architect Charles Holden, and considered to be his finest work, 55 Broadway was inspired by the skyscrapers of New York and heralded the construction of tall buildings in London by helping to loosen height restrictions. Listings Minister John Penrose said: “When this building opened it represented the height of sophistication. It remains one of the most unaltered Underground stations on the network and a fantastic example of London's architecture at its best.”





Platform kiosk, St. James's Park 1935



The site was challenging because of its irregular shape, and the District line was only 24 feet below the surface. The solution was a cross-shaped layout, which allowed passengers to walk through the ground floor of the office to reach the ticket hall. It also incorporated Henry Moore's first public commission and his only work to show the human figure in motion. The building was granted Grade II status in 1970. Despite its west wing being damaged in the Second World War, it remains largely unchanged. It has the only Underground concourse with original platform finishes from the Twenties, namely the vitreous enamel cladding to the walls, and enamel signs announcing the name of the station. There are also original platform benches and an original timber kiosk, now a display cabinet. The rest of the building is in a remarkably good state, with the original travertine marble-clad landings on each floor, ground floor lobby, stair hall, and shopping arcade all intact.




1929 - The tallest office building in London



The builders of 55, Broadway saw good design as good for business. By the example it set under Frank Pick the Underground was gradually able to change the public’s attitude to railway stations which had been seen as shabby and inhospitable places. Sir Nicholas Pevsner wrote that Pick saw in every detail a “visual propaganda” and he used this not only to improve the Underground but the environment as a whole. Charles Holden brought the Underground station to the forefront of modern architecture: This achievement is unequalled by any other transport company before or since.











As for the Grade I listing your correspondent observed prophetically in April 2008;



“With property values in London becoming more unreal due to Non Doms. and the like, no doubt some wide boys (Generally called “consultants” or “rising stars”) will look at the possibility of asset stripping this unique listed building and creating a “new culture” in some god forsaken rented cubicle factory. No doubt this will promote co-operative working by having an atrium with some poor imitation of a Calder mobile representing a tube train and a statue of an ordinary tube worker looking up at it saying “this costs a fortune and we’ll never own it!” The same wide boy asset strippers would never think it is sensible to sell their own house and move into a trailer park. “




St. James Park Station entrance











English Heritage probably clocked the threat to 55, Broadway in an article in the Estates Gazette in February 2009 where TfL’s Property Chief claimed bragging rights;



“Property chief Anthony Bickmore has now put the property under the spotlight for the first time as part of his far-reaching plans to modernise the portfolio.” This was accompanied by the usual anonymous dose of toe curling Property Puffers propaganda. “The building is no longer fit for purpose. TfL is taking advice on the potential for a major redevelopment of what is a prime West End site and this could lead to a sale.”



Indeed, not fit for purpose? Fully paid for, naturally ventilated award winning modern building which won a RIBA Gold Medal and is centrally located and built in the airspace above a Tube station? Not fit for purpose? First building in Britain to put all the services in a central core minimising corridors and maximising usable space? Certainly such a building wouldn’t generate fees for the asset strippers, property churners and predatory consultants. Hopefully the decline in the commercial property market combined with the protection of Grade 1 listing will put a damper on such quick buck thoughts and 55, Broadway will continue to proclaim the purpose stated on the early Underground poster “Always at your service.”









For more about 55, Broadway;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-my-regards-to-55-broadway.html



For more about Charles Holden;



http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/11/holden-goes-underground.html



For more on Architecture and Design see ArchiBlogs in the Blog sidebar>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.