The Laboratory - London



Architect
 Stanley Hall and Easton and Robertson
Date Built
1936 - 1938
Location
177 Rosebery Avenue
Description
In the 1600s, an ambitious plan to bring fresh water into the expanding city of London envisaged the construction of a "New River".  The plan was to bring water from near Ware in Hertfordshire by constructing a waterway that in the end was nearly 40 miles long.  At the height of the construction in 1612 more than 300 men were involved in the work.  The path of the waterway came along what is now Rosebery Avenue and into a series of ponds that were located just beyond the railings seen above.  This was known as New River Head and the site was opened officially in 1613 when the water from Hertfordshire flowed into the ponds and the various buildings on the site had been completed.  The large round pond continued to be used until 1914 and it wasn't until 1946 that the last of the filter beds were taken out of use.  This attractive, Grade II Listed, art deco building was added in 1936 - 38 as the company's laboratory, research centre and offices.  It sits on the site of one of the filter beds that surrounded the round pond. 



When it was listed in 1972, it was  described as, "Steel frame faced with Himley bricks of brownish-red colour set in stretcher bond (with vertically laid bricks above 1st floor of front block) and Portland stonedressings; hollow tile roof and floor construction, plate glass windows and glass brick panels. Long curved plan to main axis articulated in powerful horizontal expression; attached entrance foyer and semi-circular glazed staircase projection of strong vertical design forms front block on a right angle (cross axis) and faces Arlington Way and Rosebery Avenue. Modern Movement manner."  Inside was an, "... outstanding circular cantilevered staircase with wrought-iron balusters, bronze handrail; stair treads and hall floor of terrazzo, all lit by full-height panels of glazed bricks and surmounted by a blue ceiling over the stairwell upon which F P Morton incised a figure of Aquarius surrounded by stars in plaster and gilt; other period details include square lighting wall fittings mounted on copper backs, and wood figurative relief sculpture panels above some of the doorways."





The seal of "The Company of the New River" (seen below) depicts the hand of Providence bestowing rain upon the city and its motto was "et plui super unam civitatem" meaning "and I rained upon one city".



Eventually, the Company of the New River became the Thames Water Authority, and when it was privatized in 1989, all the buildings on the site were converted into private dwellings including The Laboratory.

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