How a closed building reflects Nottingham's 'social changes'
Built more than 90 years ago as the headquarters of bike manufacturer Raleigh, the Howitt Building in Nottingham went on to become a business centre and community hub.But the Grade II-listed building on Lenton Boulevard is now facing an uncertain future after Nottingham City Council ordered it to close at the end of December over safety concerns about the fire doors.The authority, which said it would work with tenants and businesses to "minimise" disruption, has not yet confirmed its long-term plans for the site.Hilary Silvester, from Nottingham Civic Society, says the building reflects "the social changes the city has seen", adding it would be "the greatest shame if that legacy was lost".
The Howitt Building was completed in 1931 to the designs of architect T Cecil Howitt, who was also responsible for the city's Council House and Home Brewery Building.Mrs Silvester said Raleigh was "one of Nottingham's 'big three', along with Boots and Players"."The owners of the businesses wanted their buildings to reflect their importance," she explained."Raleigh was worldwide business, so it wanted offices which would project that status."But its influence wasn't just about money, it had a big social impact."It was known for employing women and Nottingham gained a reputation for being a women's city."
The offices were described in the company's commemorative booklet as "probably unexcelled in architecture, business equipment and hygienic planning".One of the striking features is the ballroom, which featured a sprung floor, a stage, and dressing rooms for productions.The upper floor also housed a dining room and a reading room.Mrs Silvester said: "At this time companies were more family-minded, they actually provided facilities for their staff and workers."They had societies like drama and ballroom dancing and sports."My father worked there for 30 years and I remember going in and being so impressed by this big entrance hall and what the company was doing."
Ian Wells, also from the Nottingham Civic Society, said: "The building has a sleek, Art Deco look."It also has these friezes of near-naked cherubs, which are a mark of Howitt's work, but it looks a little unsafe as they work on building bicycles."It is an excellent example of architecture and all the more impressive for how well it is preserved, with so many original features like panelling and stained glass windows."At its height, Raleigh employed well over 8,000 people and was producing more than one million bikes a year.After World War Two, workers from across the Empire were invited to Britain and many came to work at Nottingham, with Raleigh again playing a central role in the sometimes difficult social changes.According to Historic England, Oswold George Powe, a leading member of Nottingham's African-Caribbean community, succeeded in changing the firm's employment policy following a bicycle boycott in Jamaica.Raleigh is said to have then become the largest employer of African-Caribbean workers in Nottingham.
When the offices were sold to the city council in the 1980s, the building hosted the Marcus Garvey Centre, named after a civil rights activist, which catered for the needs of older African and Caribbean residents.Roy Taylor, the chairperson of the centre, said: "The centre has been here for 35 years."Initially it was a luncheon club and we would have 40 to 50 people attending daily."A lot of people are isolated and this was somewhere where people would be missed."If someone didn't come, we would notice. It was a community link, it kept people together and it avoids that isolation."
'Critical concerns'
A document, seen by the BBC earlier in February, stated the council is considering various options for the building's future, including remediation works or potentially selling it.The authority said on Friday that "no decision regarding the long-term future of the site" had been made.However, it said a recent risk assessment highlighted "critical concerns" regarding the fire doors and compartmentalisation throughout the building, which "present a significant risk to life in the event of a fire".A "comprehensive survey which will determine the full extent of the works and costs required to address the outstanding issues" is under way, the council added.Once complete, "all viable options will be considered in consultation".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Brussels celebrates art deco's mass-produced objects for the middle class
The glazed porcelain vases with bold colours and geometric shapes of the 1920s and 30s are immediately recognisable to many people, says the art historian Cécile Dubois. Often given as a wedding present, these vases were usually passed down as family heirlooms, revealing the accessibility of art deco works, she says, gesturing to the glass cabinet beside her. 'If you were a collector, you could find works that cost a fortune, but these pieces were destined for people of more modest means for very reasonable prices.' Art deco was the first artistic movement that sought to appeal to a wider public beyond the elites, say the organisers of a new exhibition dedicated to the artistic movement of the interwar years, co-curated by Dubois, the president of the Brussels Art Deco Society. The exhibition, which opened this month at the BELvue museum in Brussels, brings together for the first time works owned by the King Baudouin Foundation, which was founded through a donation from the late Belgian monarch in 1976. It is part of the Belgian capital's year-long celebration of art deco – events and exhibitions to recognise and market Brussels as a centre for the artistic movement known for its geometric designs, exotic motifs and opulent materials. Through this modest exhibition of sculptures, vases, furniture and everyday artworks, the museum aims to chart the evolution of art deco: from luxurious hand-crafted goods for the few, to mass-produced objects aimed at middle-class consumers around the world. 'It's the first style that spread in all layers of society, from the richest to the poor people,' says Werner Adriaenssens, another co-curator and an art history professor at the Free University of Brussels. During the interwar years, brightly coloured geometric-patterned ceramic tiles were exported from Belgium's industrial heartlands all around the world. Ships left the port of Antwerp laden with tiles destined for kitchens, bathrooms and shops. Art deco was the first global style. From Paris, often credited as the birthplace of the movement, it spread to New York, Soviet Moscow, Shanghai, Beirut and Brussels. Many of the 'wedding gift' vases were designed in the southern Belgium town of La Louvière by the Franco-Belgian artist Charles Catteau, who oversaw production of decorative ceramics at Boch Frères during the interwar years. The company was a Belgian offshoot of the Franco-Luxembourgish ceramics dynasty, founded 14 years after the Belgian revolution of 1830. By 1935 it employed 1,350 people. Catteau did not design all the pieces but supervised the models, colours and finish of the glazes. His signature was stamped on every piece, a kind of trademark. As art met commerce, governments realised the creative sector had economic weight. Economic considerations led Belgium's government to participate in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925, a show seen as the founding moment of the art deco movement, although almost no one used that term until decades later. 'The only reason to participate for Belgium in 25 was that the government was convinced that the decorative hearts had an economic impact,' Adriaenssens said. That Paris exhibition in 1925 heralded a shift from art nouveau of the prewar years, especially in the depiction of women. No longer the dreamy feminine ideal of art nouveau, women in art deco were often elegant, stylised and powerful. Emblematic of the shift is a 1925 sculpture by the Flemish artist Oscar Jespers: influenced by cubism, the work Fine Pearl shows a female face that is abstract, modern, ghost-like. Catteau's vases reflect cubist influences, as well as a fascination with exotic birds and animals, probably inspired by the Belgian Congo. According to Adriaenssens, art deco artists were the first to do market research. 'They were really searching, what does the middle class want?' So they did not shy away from older themes, such as ancient Greek-inspired pottery, but with modern geometric shapes and glazes. Art nouveau, as the name implies, wanted to be new, Adriaenssens observed. 'Art deco has not that aspiration to be completely new, but to be modern.'
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
River Island at risk of collapse as high street favourite takes drastic action
The company employs 5,500 people and has already started making redundancies River Island has appointed advisers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to draw up a plan in a bid to save the company's 230 High Street branches. The clothing retailer, which employs 5,500 people, is taking action after reporting £32.2 million losses for 2023. PwC will draw up a formal restructuring plan in a bid to prevent the chain closing down, reports Sky. River Island has been part of the UK landscape since 1948. It was founded by Bernard Lewis and was originally called Lewis and Chelsea Girl. It is now run by CEO Ben Lewis, nephew of Bernard Lewis, who took over in February having previously held the post for 10 years before stepping down in 2019. The company has already made redundancies at its head office in London in departments including buying, merchandising and HR. In 2023, the company saw a 15 per cent drop in sales and a 19 per cent fall in turnover after making £7.5million profit in 2022. In its latest accounts, River Island Holdings Limited said: "The market for retailing of fashion clothing is fast changing with customer preferences for more diverse, convenient and speedier shopping journeys and with increasing competition especially in the digital space. "The key business risks for the group are the pressures of a highly competitive and changing retail environment combined with increased economic uncertainty. "A number of geopolitical events have resulted in continuing supply chain disruption as well as energy, labour and food price increases, driving inflation and interest rates higher and resulting in weaker disposable income and lower consumer confidence." Bernard Leiws originally started his business as a fruit and veg stall in Notting Hill, using a site bombed during World War Two. It quickly became The Wool Shop then a chain of nine stores called Lewis Seperates with its first in-house designed clothes on sale from 1950. The chain rebranded as Chelsea Girl in 1970 and became River Island in 1988. It opened its first overseas branches in 1993 and was one of the first brands to start selling online.
Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
Huge fashion chain with 230 stores River Island at risk as it calls in help
Huge fashion chain with 230 stores River Island at risk as it calls in help The company has called in advisers to draw up a plan to save the business River Island clothing store shop River Island has appointed advisers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to draw up a plan in a bid to save the company's 230 High Street branches. The clothing retailer, which employs 5,500 people, is taking action after reporting £32.2 million losses for 2023. PwC will draw up a formal restructuring plan in a bid to prevent the chain closing down., reports Sky. River Island has been part of the Uk landscape since 1948. It was founded by Bernard Lewis and was originally called Lewis and Chelsea Girl.l It is now run by CEO Ben Lewis, nephew of Bernard Lewis, who took over in February having previously held the post for 10 years before stepping down in 2019. The company has already m,ade redundancies at its head office in London in departments including buying, merchandising and HR. In 2023, the company saw a 15 per cent drop in sales and a 19 per cent fall in turnover after making £7.5million profit in 2022. In its latest accounts, River Island Holdings Limited said: "The market for retailing of fashion clothing is fast changing with customer preferences for more diverse, convenient and speedier shopping journeys and with increasing competition especially in the digital space. Article continues below "The key business risks for the group are the pressures of a highly competitive and changing retail environment combined with increased economic uncertainty. "A number of geopolitical events have resulted in continuing supply chain disruption as well as energy, labour and food price increases, driving inflation and interest rates higher and resulting in weaker disposable income and lower consumer confidence." Bernard Leiws originally started his business as a fruit and veg stall in Notting Hill, using a site bo,mbed during World War Two. It quickly became The Wool Shop then a chain of nine stores called Lewis Seperates with its first in-house designed clothes on sale from 1950. Article continues below The chain rebranded as Chelsea Girl in 1970 and became River Island in 1988. It opened its first overseas branches in 1993 and was one of the first brands to start selling online.
