23-05-2025
Why actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones wants to preserve a Norfolk Kwik Fit garage
"Once it's gone, it's gone forever": Russell Hookey met with the great-granddaughter of the architect behind the building
The actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones is warning that one of the oldest reinforced concrete buildings in Britain is under threat unless it is better protected.
The building, 33-39 St James Street in King's Lynn, is currently a Kwik Fit garage and has been added to this year's Top Ten Endangered Buildings List, which highlights buildings under threat.
According to the Victorian Society, the building is an "extraordinary example of modernist design and concrete construction".
The society's president Griff Rhys Jones said, "It's extraordinary, it's a very early modernist building, and as such it might be of European significance."
The Grade II-listed building, built in 1908, was designed by Norfolk-based architect A.F. Scott.
It was listed in 2019 on the advice of Historic England and because of its clean lines and lack of decoration, it is considered a precursor to the post-First World War European Functionalism movement.
Scott had already designed the now-demolished Chamberlin's factory in Norwich in 1903, which was the first reinforced concrete building in East Anglia.
His great-granddaughter, Judith Merrill said that Scott was "very much one of his kind."
"He was an individualist" she said.
"He rode a bicycle - it's said he had the first pneumatic tyres in Norwich and cycled miles around Norfolk in them.
"He was well ahead of his time, and it needs preserving, because once it's gone, it's gone forever."
The St James Street building is now leased by Kwik Fit, although according to the Victorian Society a large part of the building is in long-term disuse and deterioration.
The society is now urging the investment company which owns the building to take action to protect it.
'This bold and brilliant building is an unheralded but pioneering example of early modernism" said the society's director, James Hughes.
"It deserves urgent attention, not just to preserve its fabric, but to celebrate its place in European architectural history," he added.
A spokesperson for Kwik Fit said the building is "structurally sound" based on inspections which are carried out at least once a month.
"Naturally we would prefer the property to be fully utilised, but our operations don't require the entire building," they added.
"We have attempted to let out the space we do not use.
