LONDON GENERAL POST OFFICE (KING EDWARD BUILDING)
The fourth of the General Post Office headquarters London buildings erected in the St Martin's-Le-Grand area of central London.
Architect: Henry Tanner Year: 1911 Listed building status: Grade II* Archive sources British Postal Museum & Archive: POST 30/1895B National Archives: WORK 13/29, 13/36, 13/321, 13/351, 13/351, 13/355, 13/357, 13/395-395, 13/397-398, 13/495, 30/3665-669, 30/4726-800 Selected bibliographical references Architect 17 March 1911, p. 172 Builder 24 Nov 1906, p. 608; 15 Dec 1906, p. 700; 16 Mar 1907, p. 333 (tender accepted) Builders' Journal and Architectural Engineer 18 Oct 1905, p. 226 (illustration) Builders' Journal and Architectural Record 12 Dec 1906, p. ; 23 Jun 1909, p. 586-587, 590 Building News 22 Sep 1905, p. 395; 20 Oct 1905, p. 541; 3 Nov 1905, p. 615 (+ illustration); 15 Mar 1907, p. 376; 27 Mar 1908, p. 453 (+ illustrations); 16 Oct 1908, p. 533 (illustration); 11 Nov 1910,p. 688; 6 Jan 1911, p. 9 (talk by Henry Tanner) General Post Office. King Edward's Building. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, [n. d.] History Foundation stone laid: 16 Oct 1905 Closed: 1996 Current use: Banking group headquarters Building description From: The Architect 17 March 1911, p. 172 [Text accompanying illustrations of the building] In the views we present of this great work we have elected rather to illustrate the architectural, we may say artistic aspect, of the building, although it will ever be remembered as the first important application of reinforced concrete construction in this country. Sir Henry Tanner has always had a penchant for the scientific side of architecture, and it is strictly in accordance with his character that he should boldly essay the introduction of reinforced concrete as a method of construction in a public building of the first importance, recognising the advantages that this method offers in such a structure as a General Post Office. The fronts to King Edward Street and Newgate Street are faced with Portland stone and granite. The interior of the public office and the entrance halls have been more lavishly treated than usual, as befits the principal post office of the British Empire. The walls are lined with Arni Alto, a veined Italian marble approaching white, with panels, dado, and door architraves of Irish green, while the caps, bases, and key blocks to the window arches are of kupronised plaster. The counter-front is also of Irish green marble with bronze panel mouldings and kupronised consoles. The telegraph writing-tables are constructed of bronze with plate glass writing-slabs, while the ordinary writing-tables and the counter have bronze moulded edges. The woodwork generally is of wainscot, oiled and well-rubbed. The whole of the sashes to the two lower floors and to the sorting office block, while a few exceptions, are of steel, and those to the Newgate Street windows and to the ground floor of the public office are of gunmetal. Experiments were made with various plastering materials for internal work and as a result a rendering of Portland cement and sand, finished with Keene’s, was used. The floors generally are of maple blocks, but those of the lavatories are laid with Ruabon tiles and the public office with white marble mosaic with bands of Irish green … |