Description

ISLINGTON

635-1/0/10193 THANE VILLAS
06-AUG-07 (East side)
3-5

II
Commercial premises and factory, 1909, for Fletcher, Fletcher and Company Ltd with minor later alterations.

EXTERIOR: Large three-storey factory with a three storey, plus attic, red-brick elevation to the street in the Queen Anne style. The street frontage is impressive, having fine brickwork, a hipped roof with a dormer window and large chimneys, and a prominent dentil cornice with scrolled console brackets at intervals which, with a series of pilasters, mark the division of the elevation into three main parts. The section to the south is the entrance bay which is distinguished by a large pediment bearing a date-stone cartouche and a porch with a deep stone arched canopy supported by scroll brackets carved with cherub heads. The two bays to the north are identical, having an arcade of rounded windows at ground floor level and mullion windows above, all with stone surrounds; the frames on the upper storeys have been replaced. This ornate composition with high quality details houses the wholesale outlet and offices of the company which conceal the industrial nature of the building behind: a former loading section for vehicles and a six-bay factory in rendered brick with metal windows and external fire-escape staircases. There is a glazed red brick wall to the forecourt.

INTERIOR: The pretensions of the façade are carried through to the interior of the wholesale commercial space and company offices. The original timber door leads into a panelled entrance hall with a grand timber staircase and an historic automatic door. The latter operates on a system of weights and pulleys which trigger the opening of the double doors when the visitor stands on a large pad in front of them and is of particularly special interest. The main ground floor space is divided by a wooden partition with round-headed glazed openings and two doors. A staircase has been inserted into the large ground floor room in the late C20 and is of lesser interest. The upper floors contain large rooms which are likely to have been either showrooms or offices. The company director's office may be the one strategically located in the centre of the activity on the ground floor,containing an Adam-style fireplace and internal windows looking onto the surrounding areas. There are a number of surviving original doors in the building.

The factory to the rear is arranged on three floors and has interior walls of cream and green glazed brick. The attic storey has a double-pitched roof with the north-facing slopes glazed to lighten the room for manufacturing activities. There is a separate large stone staircase with an elegant metal handrail in an Art-Nouveau influenced design which serves the factory floors.

HISTORY: 3-5 Thane Villas was built in 1909 for Fletcher, Fletcher and Company Ltd, a manufacturing chemist business and replaced two semi-detached villas of the mid-C19. The building was the factory, commercial space and offices of the company from this date until the 1960s when it was bought by Vortex Jersey Ltd. The company is likely to have operated as a wholesale business as the design of the building does not imply a high-street retail operation.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: 3-5 Thane Villas is of special architectural interest for the quality of the façade which is a handsome composition, well-executed in good quality materials with fine points of detail such as the terracotta date-stone cartouche in the pediment and the cherubic scroll brackets to the deep arched porch canopy; the brickwork is of particularly high quality. The combination of an architectural, grand and almost civic frontage with a much plainer 'working' range to the rear is comparable to other listed manufactories/company offices, as is the architectural quality of the street frontage. The building is also of special interest for the surviving interior relating to its former use as a chemists factory, offices and wholesale showroom. The building has been little altered and retains several features of note including panelling, a glazed partition, a fireplace and rare historic automatic door, an unusual feature in commercial buildings of the era. The difference between the manufacturing and commercial spaces is clearly marked by two staircases which are both of special interest: the utilitarian stone staircase with metal balusters providing access to the factory and the grand timber Jacobean staircase serving the offices and commercial areas.

Reasons for Listing

3-5 Thane Villas is a factory, offices and wholesale showroom built in 1909 for Fletcher, Fletcher and Company Ltd, a manufacturing chemist business. The building comprises a large three-storey factory fronted by commercial premises with a red-brick elevation to the street in the Queen Anne style. The combination of an architectural, grand and almost civic frontage with a much plainer 'working' range to the rear is comparable to other listed manufactories/company offices in Birmingham and Manchester, as is the architectural quality of the street frontage with its fine brickwork, large chimneys, prominent dentil cornice and pilasters across the elevation. 3-5 Thane Villas is of special interest, in a national context, for the quality of the façade and the surviving interior relating to its former use. The building has been little altered and retains several features of interest including a rare historic automatic door, an unusual feature in commercial buildings of the era.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671419

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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