British industrial architecture has been created, mainly from 1700 onwards, to house industries of many kinds in Britain, home of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

in this period. Both the new industrial technologies and

industrial architecture Industrial architecture is the design and construction of buildings serving industry. Such buildings rose in importance with the Industrial Revolution, starting in Britain, and were some of the pioneering structures of modern architecture. File: ...

soon spread worldwide. As such, the architecture of surviving industrial buildings records part of the history of the modern world. Some industries were immediately recognisable by the functional shapes of their buildings, as with glass cones and the

bottle kiln A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal Stoppe ...

s of potteries. The transport industry was supported first by the growth of a network of canals, then of a network of railways, contributing landmark structures such as the

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; cy, Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use ...

and the

Ribblehead Viaduct The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is north-west of Skipton and ...

. New materials made available in large quantities by the newly-developed industries enabled novel types of construction, including

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

and steel. Industrial architects freely explored a variety of styles for their buildings, from

Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat ...

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

. Others sought to impress with scale, such as with tall chimneys as at the India Mill, Darwen. Some directly celebrated the modern, as with the "heroic" Power House, Chiswick, complete with statues of "Electricity" and "Locomotion". In the 20th century, long white "By-pass modern" company headquarters such as the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

Hoover Building were conspicuously placed beside major roads out of London.

Industrial revolution

Early works

From around 1700,

Abraham Darby I Abraham Darby, in his later life called Abraham Darby the Elder, now sometimes known for convenience as Abraham Darby I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and best known of several men of that name), was an English ironmaster and foundr ...

made

Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

the focus of the

with the production of goods made of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

, from cooking pots upwards. His descendant Abraham Darby III made and assembled the sections of

The Iron Bridge The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a st ...

across the Coalbrookdale Gorge. The company's Bedlam Furnaces were depicted in

Philip de Loutherbourg Philip James de Loutherbourg RA (31 October 174011 March 1812), whose name is sometimes given in the French form of Philippe-Jacques, the German form of Philipp Jakob, or with the English-language epithet of the Younger, was a French-born Briti ...

's 1801 painting ''

Coalbrookdale by Night ''Coalbrookdale by Night'' is an 1801 oil painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg. The painting depicts the Madeley Wood (or Bedlam) Furnaces, which belonged to the Coalbrookdale Company from 1776 to 1796. The picture has come to symbolize th ...

''. The Iron Bridge influenced engineers and architects around the world, and was the first of many large cast iron structures. The gorge is now a

World Heritage site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. File:Bedlam Furnaces Ironbridge - geograph.org.uk - 427415 (cropped).jpg, Remains of Abraham Darby's Bedlam Furnaces, Coalbrookdale, built c. 1700 File:Philipp Jakob Loutherbourg d. J. 002.jpg, ''Coalbrookdale by Night''
by Philip de Loutherbourg, 1801 File:Iron Bridge east side in February 2019 (cropped).jpg, The Iron Bridge, designed by

Thomas Farnolls Pritchard Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (also known as Farnolls Pritchard; baptised 11 May 1723 – died 23 December 1777) was an English architect and interior decorator who is best remembered for his design of the first cast-iron bridge in the world. Biogra ...

, built 1777–9 using iron sections cast at Coalbrookdale

Growth

From 1700, Britain's economy was transformed by industrialisation, growth in trade, and numerous discoveries and inventions, making it the first country to take this step. The working population grew rapidly, especially in the north of England. The Industrial Revolution brought large-scale

iron smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

using coke, iron puddling,

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s, and machine production of textiles. Work was organised in factories that operated several processes on a single site. Some industries, such as

steelmaking Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and all ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

textile manufacture Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, have left substantial surviving buildings; others such as mining and industrial chemistry have left scant remnants. Agricultural processing used corn mills,

malt house A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...

s, breweries and

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

; these advanced technically but did not create many large buildings because the industry was evenly distributed across the country, though multi-storey corn mills appeared around 1800 as

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

raised grain prices.

Murrays' Mills Murrays' Mills is a complex of former cotton mills on land between Jersey Street and the Rochdale Canal in the district of Ancoats, Manchester, England. The mills were built for brothers Adam and George Murray. The first mill on the site, Ol ...

, Manchester was begun in 1798, forming the longest mill range in the world; the cotton mills were conveniently placed on the Rochdale Canal, giving access to the 18th century industrial transport network. File:The Corn Mill Stamford Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1271429.jpg, The multi-storey corn mill, Stamford Bridge, c. 1800 File:Rochdale Canal 5268.JPG, Murrays' Mills (for cotton) on the Rochdale Canal, Manchester, begun in 1798, and then forming the longest mill range in the world

Transport network

Industrial growth was accompanied and assisted by the rapid development of a nationwide canal network able to carry heavy goods of all kinds. Canals were cut so as to connect producers to their customers, for example the 1794

Glamorganshire Canal The Glamorganshire Canal in South Wales, UK, was begun in 1790. It ran along the valley of the River Taff from Merthyr Tydfil to the sea at Cardiff. The final section of canal was closed in 1951. History Construction started in 1790; being ...

linking the Welsh ironworks at

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

to the harbour at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. This spurred rapid industrialisation of the South Wales Valleys. The engineer

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

undertook some major canal works, including between 1795 and 1805 the high

that enables the

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshir ...

to cross the

River Dee, Wales The River Dee ( cy, Afon Dyfrdwy, la, Deva Fluvius) is a river in the United Kingdom. It flows through parts of both Wales and England, forming part of the border between the two countries. The river rises in Snowdonia, Wales, flows east via ...

, and between 1803 and 1822 the Caledonian Canal linking a chain of freshwater lochs across Scotland with the enormous

Neptune's Staircase Neptune's Staircase () is a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the Caledonian Canal. Built by Thomas Telford between 1803 and 1822, it is the longest staircase lock in Britain. The system was originally hand-powered but has been converted ...

, a series of eight large locks, each long by wide, that together enable barges to climb . File:Pontcysyllte aqueduct arp (cropped).jpg, Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee, Wales, 1795–1805 File:Aqueduct over the Dee called Pont y Cyssyltau (cropped).jpeg, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct engraved by

Edward Francis Finden Edward Francis Finden (1791–1857) was a British Engraving, engraver. Life Finden was the younger brother, fellow-pupil, and coadjutor of William Finden, and shared his successes and fortunes. Works Finden executed some separate works, among ...

from a drawing by Robert Batty, 1823 File:Neptune's Staircase 2017 left.jpg, Telford's Neptune's Staircase of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal, 1803–1822 File:Neptunes Staircase01arch 2007-08-21.jpg, View up Neptune's Staircase from near Loch Linnhe

Shipbuilding

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

on the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

constructed and equipped ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

from the time of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

for more than 400 years, using the most advanced technology for its ships and its industrial buildings. File:Joseph Farington (1747-1821) - Chatham Dockyard - BHC1782 - Royal Museums Greenwich (detail).jpg, Chatham Dockyard: from right to left (south to north) on river bank are: two Anchor Wharf Storehouses (Rope House behind); two shipbuilding slips (and Commissioner's House with garden, and beyond, Sail and Colour Loft); two dry docks (Clock Tower Storehouse behind); the old Smithery; two more dry docks (and beyond, Masthouses and Mouldloft); more building slips and Boat Houses. In the distance, ships at anchor on Gillingham Reach. Painting by

Joseph Farington Joseph Farington (21 November 1747 – 30 December 1821) was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist. Life and work Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and Esther Gilbody. His ...

, 1785. No. 3 covered slip in Chatham Dockyard provides a roof over a shipbuilding slipway, enabling the timbers of the ship under construction to stay dry and sound, unlike traditional outdoor construction. Its wooden roof

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es were built in 1838. No. 7 covered slip, built in 1852, is one of the earliest metal trussed roofs. File:ChathamCoveredSlipNo3 (cropped).JPG,

Royal Navy Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

, Chatham: No. 3 covered slip, 1838, a shed to keep the timbers of the ship under construction dry.
HMS ''Gannet'' is on left. File:Chatham Dockyard Kent.Covered Slip Building predating Railway Stations of Victorian years..jpg, Interior of No. 3 covered slip, showing wooden trusses and ample light. The slipway has been backfilled to serve as a store-room. File:ChathamHDYCoveredS0005.JPG, No. 7 covered slip, an early metal truss roof, 1852 File:ChathamHDYCoveredS0007.JPG, Interior of No. 7 covered slip

Functional design

Some industries had easily-recognised architectural elements, shaped by the functions they performed, such as the glass cones of

glassworks Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

, the

bottle oven A bottle oven or bottle kiln is a type of kiln. The word 'bottle' refers to the shape of the structure and not to the kiln's products, which are usually pottery, not glass. Bottle kilns were typical of the industrial landscape of Stoke-on-Trent ...

s such as those of the

Staffordshire Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ...

or the

Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown De ...

porcelain works, the tapering roofs of the

oast house An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...

s that dried the

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

from Kent's hop orchards, and the

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

-like ventilators of

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

distilleries. File:Lemington glass works.jpg, The distinctive glass cones of

Lemington Glass Works Lemington Glass Works was the site of glass production in Lemington, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, for over 200 years. All that remains now is its iconic last glass cone, a famous local landmark. History Lemington Glass Works were opened in 1 ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, c. 1900 File:GladstonePotteryMuseum(ValVannet)Jul2004.jpg, Bottle kiln for firing ceramics at

Gladstone Pottery Museum The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium-sized coal-fired pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th cent ...

, Stoke-on-Trent. Early 19th century. File:The Royal Worcester Porcelain Works c1880.jpg, Engraving of The Royal Worcester

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

works beside the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, c. 1880 File:Hops oast house (4971752858).jpg, Oast houses at

Sissinghurst Castle Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Sissinghurst in the Weald of Kent in England, was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is desig ...

, Kent, used for drying hops for beer. The two on the right are of the usual conical type. Early 19th century. File:StrathislaDistillery-pjt1.jpg, Strathisla distillery,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

, founded 1786, with 'pagoda' ventilators c. 1872

Workshop of the world

In the mid-19th century, Britain became in

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

's 1838 phrase the "workshop of the world". Production in many industries grew rapidly, assisted by the development of an efficient distribution system in the new railway network. This allowed industries to concentrate production at a distance from sources of raw materials, especially coal. It powered steam engines for mills of all types, for example freeing the

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s from having to be beside a fast-flowing river, and enabling iron foundries, and

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

s to increase greatly in size.

Designed to impress

The wealth generated by the new industries enabled mill-owners to build to impress. The cotton magnate

Eccles Shorrock Eccles Shorrock (born Eccles Shorrock Ashton) (1827–1889) was a Lancashire cotton industrialist who was responsible for commissioning the India Mill and its iconic chimney, a major landmark in Darwen, Lancashire. Early life Shorrock was born Eccl ...

commissioned Ernest Bates to create a showy design for his India Mill at

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

, Lancashire, complete with a tall Italianate

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

-style chimney. This was built in red, white, and black brick, topped with cornices of stone, an ornamental urn at each corner, and an ornate cresting consisting of over 300 pieces of cast iron. File:India Mill.jpg, Eccles Shorrock's India Mill, Darwen and its high Italianate campanile chimney, 1867

Cathedrals of progress

Britain's railways, the first in the world, transformed both ordinary life and industry with unprecedentedly rapid transport. The railways showed off their importance with architecture that both referred to the past and celebrated the future. The French poet

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...

described the new railway stations as "cathedrals of the new humanity".

Newcastle Central station Newcastle Central Station (also known simply as Newcastle and locally as Central Station) is a major railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around north of . It is the primary national rail station ...

, despite its curved platforms, was given a fully-covered roof in 1850, the earliest surviving one on the country.

Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

railway station has a cathedral-like exterior with

Gothic arch A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown, whose two curving sides meet at a relatively sharp angle at the top of the arch. This architectural element was particularly important in Gothic architecture. The earlie ...

es and a pinnacled tower, while the 1841 old station there had a

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams pr ...

, said to have been modelled on

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

's timbers. The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

's engineer,

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

, indeed described the station as "a cathedral to the iron horse". London

Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great We ...

was designed by Brunel, inspired by

Joseph Paxton Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and the

München Hauptbahnhof München Hauptbahnhof or Munich Central Station is the main railway station in the city of Munich, Germany. It is one of the three stations with long-distance services in Munich, the others being Munich East station (''München Ost'') and Munich ...

. File:Newcastle Central Station (1850).jpg, Engraving of the opening of Newcastle Central Station, 1850 File:2014 at Bristol Old Station - roof detail above arrival platform.JPG, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway built a hammerbeam roof for Bristol Old Station, 1841 File:Bristol Temple Meads Frontage.jpg, Bristol Temple Meads's cathedral-like main entrance, 1870s Departure platforms Paddington station.jpg, Paddington Station, built 1854, seen in 1904

Experimenting with styles

Industrial architects experimented freely with non-industrial styles. One of the earliest was

, a style that arose in response to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's conquest of Egypt, accompanied by a scientific expedition. Joseph Bonomi designed the

Temple Works Temple Works is a former flax mill in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by the engineer James Coombe a former pupil of John Rennie the Younger, John Rennie; the painter David Roberts (painter), David Roberts; and the arch ...

flax mill offices, in Holbeck, Leeds, modelled on the

Mammisi A mammisi (mamisi) is an ancient Egyptian small chapel attached to a larger Egyptian temple, temple (usually in front of the Pylon (architecture), pylonsRachet, Guy (1994). ''Dizionario della civiltà egizia''. Rome: Gremese Editore. . p. 186.), bui ...

of the

Dendera Temple complex Dendera Temple complex ( Ancient Egyptian: ''Iunet'' or ''Tantere''; the 19th-century English spelling in most sources, including Belzoni, was Tentyra; also spelled Denderah) is located about south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the best ...

, in 1836–1840. File:Denderah. The great vestibul (sic) of the Temple of Hathor - Lehnert & Landrock, Cairo. LCCN2003690040.jpg, The Roman Mammisi at the Dendera Temple complex, Egypt File:Temple Works, Holbeck, Leeds (5255277285).jpg, Temple Works flax mill offices, Holbeck, Leeds, designed by Joseph Bonomi in Egyptian Revival style, 1836–1840 At

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, the

Metropolitan Water Board The Metropolitan Water Board was a municipal body formed in 1903 to manage the water supply in London, UK. The members of the board were nominated by the local authorities within its area of supply. In 1904 it took over the water supply functi ...

's engine house was constructed to look something like a

, complete with towers and crenellation. The pumping station at Ryhope,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, was built in 1869, more or less Jacobean in style with curving

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the termination of a ...

s, and an octagonal brick chimney. The architectural historian Hubert Pragnell calls it a "cathedral of pistons and brass set within a fine shell of Victorian brickwork with no expense spared". File:Engine House Of Metropolitan Water Board.jpg, Medieval castle:
Engine House,
Stoke Newington, 1854–6 File:Ryhope Pumping Station (cropped).jpg, Jacobean, Dutch gables:
Ryhope pumping station,
Sunderland, 1869 The

Bliss Tweed Mill Bliss Tweed Mill is a former mill for the manufacture of tweed. It is located on the edge of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It became a Grade II* listed building in 1980. The mill was built in 1872 for cloth manufacturer William ...

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

was designed in 1872 by George Woodhouse, a Lancashire mill architect. It is constructed of local limestone, and despite its 5 storeys, is grandly modelled to resemble a

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

type

, with the addition of the dominant chimney stack, "a sophisticated aesthetic solution to a functional requirement". The chimney and curved stairwell tower are offset from the centre of the building, while the corners are balustraded and topped with urns. The

Templeton Carpet Factory Templeton On The Green, converted from the Templeton Carpet Factory, is a distinctive building near the People's Palace, Glasgow, People's Palace, in Glasgow, Scotland, opened in 1892. In 1984 it was converted into the Templeton Business Centre, ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

has been called "the most remarkable display of polychromatic brickwork in Britain". It was built in 1892 by

William Leiper William Leiper Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (1839–1916) was a Scotland, Scottish architect known particularly for his domestic architecture in and around the town of Helensburgh.

for James Templeton and Son, for the weaving of

Axminster carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have ...

s. It was modelled in

on the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

in Venice. File:Bliss Mill from Worcester Road - geograph.org.uk - 329977.jpg, English country house:
Bliss Tweed Mill,
Chipping Norton, 1872 File:Lancienne usine de tapis Templeton (Glasgow) (3834292103) (cropped).jpg, Venetian Gothic:
Templeton Carpet Factory,
Glasgow, 1892

Landmark structures

Some industrial structures have become landmarks in their own right. The

carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across the

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. It was built by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

to a design by John Sydney Crossley, opening in 1876. Faced with limestone and with almost semicircular red brick arches, it is long and high. It is now an admired

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

*-listed structure. Gas for domestic heating, produced from coal, was stored in enormous cylindrical

gasholder A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...

s, their iron cage frames now surviving in some places around the country as memorials to long-vanished industry (such as the

Bromley-by-Bow Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. The area is distinct from Bow, which li ...

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

gasholders). File:Ribblehead Viaduct (27475839196).jpg, Ribblehead Viaduct, designed by John Sydney Crossley, 1876 File:No5 gasholder.jpg, Nos. 4 and 5 Gasholders, Kelvindale, Glasgow, 1893

Moving towards the modern

The Power House, Chiswick is an electricity generating station, designed by

William Curtis Green William Curtis Green (16 July 1875 – 26 March 1960) was an English architect, designer and barrister"Quite ceremony in Archbishop's Palace", ''The Nottingham Evening Post'', 3 August 1935, p. 8. who was based in London for much of his career. ...

and J. Clifton Robinson in 1901 for the London United Electrical Tramway Company. It is described by the architectural historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

as a "monumental free

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

brick and stone composition" from the "early, heroic era of generating stations" with enormous stone

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s. Above the entrance is a pair of large stone figures: one representing "Electricity", her foot on a globe, and her hand emitting lightning flashes by the rotor of a

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

; the other representing "Locomotion", her foot on an

electric tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

and her hand on a winged wheel. File:The Power House, Chiswick (stitched).jpg, The Power House, Chiswick, 1901:
the "early, heroic era of generating stations" File:Electricity and Locomotion on The Power House, Chiswick (cropped).jpg, 'Electricity' and 'Locomotion' above the London United Electrical Tramway Company's Power House doorway

Arthur Sanderson & Sons Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd, now known simply as Sanderson, is a British manufacturer of fabrics and wallpaper, founded in 1860. Company The company was founded in 1860 in Islington, London, by Arthur Sanderson (1829–1882), who began by ...

' Grade II* listed

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so t ...

printing works in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

was designed by the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architect Charles Voysey in 1902, his only industrial building. It is faced in white glazed brick, with

Staffordshire blue brick Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England. The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere ta ...

s forming horizontal bands; the plinth, door and window surrounds, and dressings are in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

. It is considered an "important

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

factory building". It faces Sandersons' more conventional 1893 red brick factory across a narrow street.

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

's modernist station buildings for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

freely combined cylinders with flat planes. An example is his "futuristic" 1933

Arnos Grove tube station Arnos Grove is a London Underground station located in Arnos Grove in the London Borough of Enfield, London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station opened on 19 Septem ...

, which has a brightly-lit circular ticket hall in brick with a flat concrete roof. File:Voysey House Sandersons Building design by CFA Voysey 1902.jpg, Modernist wallpaper printing works for Sandersons by Charles Voysey,

, 1902 File:Arnos Grove underground station 16 November 2012.jpg,

's "futuristic" Arnos Grove tube station, 1933

New types of construction

Alongside new styles of architecture came novel types of construction. William T. Walker's 1903–1904

Clément-Talbot Clément-Talbot Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer with its works in Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London, founded in 1903. The new business's capital was arranged by Charles Chetwynd-Talbot (whose family name became the brand- ...

car factory on Barlby Road,

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to ...

, had a traditional-looking office entrance in William and Mary style, built of red brick with stone pilasters, cornice, the Talbot family

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

, and

Porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...

. The impressive frontage gave access to a vaulted marble-floored entrance hall that was used as a car showroom, while the main factory building behind it was an early

structure. The availability of new materials such as steel and concrete in industrial quantities enabled radically new designs, such as the

Tees Transporter Bridge The Tees Transporter Bridge, also referred to as the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, is a bridge in northern England. It is the furthest downstream bridge across the River Tees and the longest remaining transporter in the world. The bridge is ...

. It has concrete foundations, poured in shafts dug using caissons, down to bedrock far below the high tide mark; the bridge structure is of steel, with granite piers. File:Clement Talbot Works North Kensington (2944231009).jpg, Clément-Talbot car factory by William T. Walker, Ladbroke Grove, 1903–1904 File:Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, stockton side.jpg, Tees Transporter Bridge, designed by

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a UK bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington. It built landmarks including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humber suspe ...

and built by Sir William Arrol & Co., 1911

Between the wars, 1914 to 1945

"By-pass modern"

The "daylight factory" concept, with long sleek buildings and attractive grassed surroundings, was brought in from America, starting in

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

. They often had large windows and were placed along major roads such as the Great West Road in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, West London, earning them the name of "by-pass modern" factories. A well-known exemplar is

Wallis, Gilbert and Partners Wallis, Gilbert and Partners was a British architectural partnership responsible for the design of many Art Deco buildings in the UK in the 1920s and 1930s. It was established by Thomas Wallis (1873–1953) in 1916. Wallis had previously served ...

' 1932–1935 Hoover Building in the

style; it was at the time derided for "its overtly commercial character", but is now Grade II-listed. The architectural historian Hubert Pragnell describes it as "the cathedral of modernism" and "an icon of 1930s design". File:Pyrene Building, Great West Road, Brentford.jpg, The Pyrene Building, Great West Road, Brentford, 1929–30 File:Coty Cosmetics Factory, Great West Road, Brentford, 20050123 (cropped).jpg, Coty Cosmetics Factory, Great West Road, Brentford, 1932

Art Deco Egyptian

A distinctively different inter-war building is the

Carreras Cigarette Factory The Carreras Cigarette Factory is a large art deco building in Camden, London, in the United Kingdom. It is noted as a striking example of early 20th Century Egyptian Revival architecture. The building was erected in 1926–28 by the Carreras To ...

, built 1926–1928 on an inner-city site in

Mornington Crescent Mornington Crescent is a terraced street in Camden Town, Camden, London, England. It was built in the 1820s, on a greenfield site just to the north of central London. Many of the houses were subdivided into flats during the Victorian era, an ...

, Camden. It was designed by the architects M. E. Collins, O. H. Collins, and A. G. Porri in a combination of Art Deco and Egyptian Revival styles. The factory has a frontage of under a continuous cornice with flute lines painted red and blue. Its construction is modern, a pioneer of

pre-stressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...

, but it is decorated to recall the glories of ancient Egypt, after the discovery of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

's tomb in 1922. The company chose a black cat based on the Egyptian cat god

Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (289 ...

to symbolise its brand, and placed a pair of large cat effigies beside the entrance stairs, as well as smaller cat roundels on the building. File:Panehesy’s EA.6 tomb (Kairoinfo4u).jpg, Columns at

Panehesy Panehesy (also transcribed as PinhasyAldred, Cyril, Akhenaten: King of Egypt ,Thames and Hudson, 1991 (paperback), , pg 16,18,24,66,131,222 or PanehsyKemp, Barry, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its People, Thames and Hudson, 2012 ...

's tomb, c. 1330 BC File:Greater London House, former Carreras Cigarette Factory 07.jpg, Carreras Cigarette Factory, Camden, 1926–1928 File:Carreras Cigarette Factory cats.jpg, The pair of black cats, modelled on Bastet, guarding the factory entrance

Contemporary

Post-war

Since the Second World War, architects have created impressive industrial buildings in a range of modern or post-modernist styles. One such is the Grade II*

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

Engineering Research Station at

Killingworth Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town in North Tyneside, England. Killingworth was built as a planned town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the Township. Other nearby towns and ...

, which was built in 1967 to a design by Ryder and Yates. Historic England calls it a "'' tour de force'' of post-war architecture with deliberate references to continental examples in the transformation of service elements into sculptural forms".

CZWG CZWG Limited is a British architecture practice established in 1975 by Nick Campbell, Roger Zogolovitch, Rex Wilkinson and Piers Gough. The practice is known for its work in the postmodern style. Projects * Aztec West, Bristol * Bankside S ...

Aztec West Aztec West is a business park in South Gloucestershire, England, situated in the north of Bristol, near Bradley Stoke and Patchway. It is close to the M4 and M5 motorways and the Almondsbury Interchange. Adjacent is the A38 trunk road. Hi ...

in the Bristol West Business Park uses horizontal stripes of brickwork interrupted by tall narrow windows and white concrete bevels to give a pilaster effect and, with its symmetrical concave-fronted buildings, an echo of Art Deco style. File:Former British Gas Engineering Research Station, Killingworth - geograph.org.uk - 1831584 (cropped).jpg, British Gas Engineering Research Station, Killingworth, 1967 File:210 Aztec West. - geograph.org.uk - 499303 (cropped).jpg, Aztec West, Bristol, by CZWG, 1987

21st century

The partnership of architecture and engineering is seen in

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

's Terminal 5 building, opened in 2008. It is long, wide and tall, making it the largest free-standing building in Britain. The roof is supported on exposed hinged trusses. The architects were

Richard Rogers Partnership RSHP is a British architectural firm, founded in 1977 and previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership which became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. in 2007. The firm rebranded from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to simply RSHP on 30 Jun ...

assisted by aviation architects

Pascall+Watson Pascall+Watson (formerly Pascall+Watson Architects) is an international architectural firm, founded in 1956 by Clive Pascall and Peter Watson. It became a limited company in 1983. Its main office is situated in Blackfriars, London on the site of ...

, and the engineers were Arup for the above-ground works and

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs 16,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. It was established in 1989 by the merger of M ...

for the substructures. File:T5 Trusses 3.jpg, Exposed trusses inside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, 2008

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{History of architecture Architecture in the United Kingdom Industrial Revolution