Architect	J. Stanley Beard and Walter R. Bennett
Date Built	circa 1936
Location	206 Marylebone Road
Description
The National Cash Register Company incorporated in Great Britain as early as 1895 and its first offices in London were on the Strand.  As the company grew, it moved to ever larger accommodation until it resolved to commission a purpose built headquarters on this site beside Marylebone Road. According to an account in the St. Marylebone Society Newsletter in 2008, NCR requested a building, "... that would prove efficient in its internal arrangements and at the same time be of a design “dignified” enough to befit its important situation in the Marylebone area." "The design called for the building to be constructed with a complete steel frame so that the whole load of floors and walls would be carried direct by steel beams and columns to the foundations. This meant that the walls would carry only their own weight, so that in future any portion of the walls and floors could be removed or modified without causing a problem with the structure. The steel used was the best quality of British Manufacture." "In keeping with the company’s desire for a “dignified” building, the exterior of the new building was fashioned in a “restrained classical style”. The main facade fronted on Marylebone Road and was faced in natural Portland stone. ....  The lower portion of the elevation had the stone courses rusticated to give an appearance of additional strength and interest and to form the base for the classical colonnade of the six threequarter fluted columns of the Roman Corinthian order, which were the central feature of the main façade. The columns were 30 feet in height and embraced three storeys. The sixth floor was set back from the main face of the building, with the stonework at the corners being carved and moulded cartouches."

Close Window