Palladium House |
| Hob Uid: 1508405 | |
Location :
Greater London Authority
City of Westminster
Non Civil Parish
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| Grid Ref : TQ2914681123 |
| Summary : An office block situated at the corner of Argyll Street and Great Marlborough Street, London. The building is now called Palladium House, but was formerly known as Ideal House. It was constructed from 1928 to 1929 by Raymond Hood in collaboration with Gordon Jeeves. The office block was built of polished black granite facing with metal casement windows and enamel trimmings. The seven-storey building is seven windows wide on the side facing Great Marlborough Street and 11 windows wide on the side facing Argyll Street. The attic storey is recessed. The ground floor has flat arched display windows which are decorated by an inlaid frame of bronze champleve enamelled plates in formalised lotus and jazz-moderne patterns and in a range of colours including orange, green, yellow and gold. The decoration also appears as a frieze pierced by the 6th floor windows and on the stepped and coved main cornice and attic cornice. In 1935 the building was extended northwards. The office block was first constructed for the National Radiator Company and was a smaller version of the American Radiator Building on Bryant Park in Manhattan which Raymond Hood designed for the parent company the National Radiator Corporation in New York. The colour scheme of gold and black represents the livery of the company. The block was designed to house a ground floor show room and lettable offices above. |
More information : An office block situated at the corner of Argyll Street and Great Marlborough Street, London. The building is now called Palladium House, but was formerly known as Ideal House. It was constructed from 1928 to 1929 by Raymond Hood in collaboration with Gordon Jeeves. The office block was built of polished black granite facing with metal casement windows and enamel trimmings. The seven-storey building is seven windows wide on the side facing Great Marlborough Street and 11 windows wide on the side facing Argyll Street. The attic storey is recessed. The ground floor has flat arched display windows which are decorated by an inlaid frame of bronze champleve enamelled plates in formalised lotus and jazz-moderne patterns and in a range of colours including orange, green, yellow and gold. The decoration also appears as a frieze pierced by the 6th floor windows and on the stepped and coved main cornice and attic cornice. In 1935 the building was extended northwards. The office block was first constructed for the National Radiator Company and was a smaller version of the American Radiator Building on Bryant Park in Manhattan which Raymond Hood designed for the parent company the National Radiator Corporation in New York. The colour scheme of gold and black represents the livery of the company. The block was designed to house a ground floor show room and lettable offices above. The building represents a London version of an American tower block which was decorated in the Art Deco or 'Moderne' style in fashion after the Paris Exhibition of 1925. It is the only European building of Raymond Hood. The enamel surround to the Argyll Street has been removed and is now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Grade II listed. (1)
The Survey of England publication states the construction years 1927 to 1929. The extension was built between 1935 and 1936 to designs of Gordon Jeeves for Ideal Boilers and Radiators Ltd. (2)
Hood's colour scheme black and gold should symbolise coal and flames, as his client was in the heating business. (3)
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