Remembering Liverpool Structures - India Buildings

The first India Buildings

In 1923 Arnold Thornely and Herbert J Rowse won a competition, assessed by (Sir) Giles Gilbert Scott, to design a speculative office block for Sir Richard Durning Holt and the Alfred Holt & Co shipping line, combining offices, a bank, and post office in one building. Nearly one hundred years before the date of the completion of this building George Holt, Andrew Holt's father, conceived the idea of erecting a block of light and airy premises to consist entirely of offices, whereas before then the business transactions of merchants and ship owners had been conducted on the ground floors of private dwellings, or more frequently in dark and dingy 'counting-houses' partitioned off from warehouses. In 1833 the foundation stone was laid and it was built to architect Franklin's design, occupying a whole block surrounded by Water Street, Brunswick Street, Fenwick Street, and Drury Lane. With nine storeys, a mezzanine, a basement and a sub-basement, it was completed in 1834. The new India Buildings, with its design influenced by the Italian Renaissance and incorporating features of the American Beaux-Arts style, was constructed in two halves; the south-western half being constructed first alongside the original India Building, with the latter then being demolished to make way for the second half of the new building, with the two stages straddling the former Chorley Street. In order to accomplish this, a principal entrance was planned at the centre of the Water Street and Brunswick Street faces, with a lofty Elevator Hall at each entrance and an arcaded corridor running across the building at ground floor level between them. The entrances in Water Street and Brunswick Street lead into foyers and each foyer has three painted and coffered saucer domes in the ceiling, supported by fluted Ionic columns in Travertine marble. Over the Water Street entrance is an ornamental balcony with the entrance itself consisting of three tall arches that are flanked by four bronze lamps, made by the Bromsgrove Guild, their design being based on those at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. Two light courts are above the first floor level, running across the main axis of the building, with sky-lights which give light to the main corridor and to the lofty portion of the ground floor on each side. The upper corridors are adequately lit from either from the light-courts or from the outside of the block.

India Buildings, at the time fully occupied by firms whose staff numbered three thousand, was heavily damaged by bombing during the Second World War and was reconstructed under Rowse's supervision, finally being completed early in 1953. Charles Reilly wrote; "the building would not disgrace Fifth Avenue. Its best feature is the glossy arcade of finely detailed shops which pierces the building. Each detail, Bromsgrove Guild lamps, bronze post box and plaques is Rowseingly perfect." Rowse himself proudly asserted, "Never present an alternative; it shows you have not solved your problem."

Originally the ground floor housed a public hall, Lloyds Bank (the bankers of Holts), the Post Office, and Imperial and International Communications Ltd, whilst the second floor was occupied by the Maritime Insurance Co. The fourth and fifth floors were occupied by Government departments, Income Tax Surveyors, Income Tax Collectors, and Post Office telephones, and Messrs Alfred Holt & Co occupied most of the sixth, seventh and eighth floors. A constitutional club also occupied part of the seventh floor, and other original building tenants included solicitors, merchants, consuls, shipping companies, and other businesses. A cafe and hairdresser's occupied the basement on the Fenwick Street side of the building originally, and was followed in the 1970s by a nightclub. However, when the Passport Office moved out, the Buildings declined under new owners.

More recently in 2020 the Grade II-listed property at the heart of Liverpool was undergoing a 269,000 sq. ft. refurbishment to become the Merseyside base for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) bringing 3,500 jobs into the city centre.

For an remarkable view of the construction of the building visit -  http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/india-buildings.php

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/11/remembering-liverpool-structures.html