The Firestone Tyre Factory on 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 ...

in the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow () is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller borough councils (forming part of the former Middlesex County Council area) amalgamated under ...

was an example of

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 ...

architecture. It was designed by

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 ...

for the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...

. Built on a 26-acre site, it opened in October 1928 and was the second factory to open on the Great West Road, following Hudson-Essex Motors of Great Britain Limited which opened in 1927.

Demolition and controversy

The company announced in November 1979 that it would close the factory. After its purchase by Trafalgar House, the building was demolished during the August 1980

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

weekend, reportedly in anticipation of its becoming

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

. The

Twentieth Century Society The Twentieth Century Society (C20) is a British charity which campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. The society's interests embrace buildings and artefacts that characterise 20th-century Britain. It is form ...

call the structure their "first serious case" and say that its destruction "focused public attention on the necessity for greater protection for 20th century buildings and led directly to the listing of 150 examples of inter-war architecture (including

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

) by the government". The gates, piers and railings fencing the site received a Grade II listing in 2001.

References

External links

Globalnet.co.uk: Firestone Factory

Britainfromabove.org: Firestone tyre factory

Brentford and Chiswicklhs.org: Firestone Factory

Disused-stations.org: Brentford
{{Bridgestone Corporation Manufacturing plants in England Brentford, London Bridgestone Demolished buildings and structures in London Demolished manufacturing buildings and structures History of the London Borough of Hounslow History of Middlesex Buildings and structures completed in 1928 Buildings and structures demolished in 1980 1928 establishments in England 1980 disestablishments in England Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow Grade II listed industrial buildings Art Deco architecture in London

Demolition and controversy

See also

References

External links