Take a trip back through our biggest achievements
1905
Finished in 1905, we built the Britannia Royal Naval Training College, Dartmouth, one of the most prestigious officer training establishments in the world. We hauled stonework uphill by a speciality built light railway from a jetty in the River Dart. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by King Edward VII in March 1902. Sir Aston Webb, one of the most well respected architects of the Edwardian era, designed the shore-based college at Dartmouth.
1909
We rebuilt the LC&DR station and it re-opened on 16 June 1906. The ornate Portland stone frontage was designed by AW Blomfield, architect to South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Built by John Mowlem & Co., it includes mermaid caryatids, broken pediments and slate roofs, and is still used as one of Victoria Station’s entrances.
1924
The iconic Tudor-revival building just off Regent Street was built 1924 to allow the department store to carrying on trading while its other premises was being renovated. We used timber from two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. Designed by Edwin T. Hall and his son, the building epitomises the 1920s fashion for Tudor style architecture. Inside, the shop is built around three light-wells, with smaller rooms to the sides, creating a surprisingly domestic feel.
1926
By 1848, the Swan and Edgar department store had expanded to occupy 45-51 on the Quadrant, and the entire corner of Piccadilly Circus. However, in 1917 the store suffered damage as it was hit in the last Zeppelin raid on London. We rebuilt the new Swan and Edgar store according to Sir Reginald Blomfield’s external design and Murray Adams-Acton’s interiors, and completed three of seven floors only 28 weeks after clearing the site. Completed in 1926, the store still stands to this day on the western side of Piccadilly Circus.
Now a Grade II listed building, we originally built the five star Park Lane Hotel on Piccadilly. The seven storey building included a stunning Art Deco style ballroom in the basement, with vertical panelling to walls, reliefs showing winged horses and youths, pink tinted and shaped mirrors, some with 'fountain' light fittings, three frosted glass chandeliers, and a panelled ceiling with palmette-decorated cornices. It has 302 bedrooms on eight floors, the front ones overlooking Green Park towards Buckingham Palace. We built a mansard roof and clad the luxurious hotel in Portland stone, which has lasted to this day.
1929
We built the large and luxurious Chiltern Court block of flats at Baker Street, using a 145ft tower crane, one of the first to be used in the country. It soon became one of the most prestigious addresses in London, and was home to composer Eric Coates, novelists HG Wells and Arnold Bennett. Chiltern Court was designed by the Met’s architect Charles W Clark, who was also responsible for the design of some of the stations on the outer 'Metro-Land'.
1930
As part of the Daimler Motor Company, we built new manufacturing units in Radford — to manufacture Halifax, Stirling and Lancaster bombers — which employed 5,000 people.
We built India House for the High Commission of India, designed by Sir Herbert Baker. It was formally inaugurated on 8 July 1930 by the King-Emperor George V. Now a Grade II listed building, it includes a detailed stone façade depicting the various states in India.
1933
A Grade II listed landmark on the outskirts of London visible along the A40, the Hoover Building is one of the UK’s finest examples of Art Deco architecture. We built the two storey steel-reinforced concrete frame building in 1932. The exterior is rendered in 'Snowcrete', a type of portland-limestone cement with a brilliant white pigment, that has good durability against weathering. The building's architectural detailing shows the increasing influence of Egypt on art and design following the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.
1935
Now a Grade II listed building, we built the two storey brick Art Deco style Gillette factory along the Great West Road in Brentford. Designed by architect Banister Fletcher, the building includes a lofty central tower topped with a four-faced neon-illuminated clock, and iron-framed windows with decorative metal aprons.
1937
We built the now-listed striking London Fire Brigade Headquarters along the Albert Embankment. The façade includes some carved reliefs of firemen in action by Gilbert Bayes. It was opened by King George VI on 21 July 1937. The LFB moved to Southwark in 2007.
1939
One of the most iconic buildings on the Southbank, the County Hall originally served as the headquarters of local government for London for 64 years. By 1934, County Hall required further extension to accommodate growing staff numbers since its opening in 1912. We built the North and South blocks in York Road as offices for London County Council between 1936 and 1939.
1941
During World War II, a government contract was issued to construct various protected buildings in London. Designed to withstand the impact of a 500lb bomb, we converted one of two gasholders into the South Rotunda, a subterranean citadel, codename ANSON. It still survives beneath the Marsham Street offices of the DoE. With a 12 foot thick concrete roof, the three storey complex, half below ground, was equipped to house several thousand government officials in complete safety from enemy attack for up to three months. The bottom floor of the South Rotunda housed the mechanical plant room for the two Rotundas and the Citadel nearby.
