Former Nylon Spinners Factory, New Inn, Torfaen

History

The factory was built between 1945 and 1948; it was designed by Sir Percy Thomas and Son, and the client was British Nylon Spinners, a joint venture of ICI Ltd and Courtaulds Ltd. The factory is the major production unit on a formally planned and landscaped industrial complex. The historical context for this development lies in the catastrophic decline of the traditional south Wales industries between the wars, and growing recognition that the national interest would best be served by a balanced distribution of diversified industry. It is therefore significant that the factory was designed for a pioneering industry on a very large scale, and that it was built in a rural location within the designated Wales and Monmouthshire Development Area. The use of a major architectural firm to produce a united architectural composition taylored to the specialist needs of a new industry, and its well-landscaped context, express the aspirations for well-planned and designed industry to take its place as a centre-piece of post-war reconstruction and expanded town and country planning. The factory was originally the source of all nylon yard produced in Britain. Construction began in 1945, with Sir Robert McAlpine and Sons Ltd as general contractors; production began in 1948. There was some expansion thereafter, not only to the main plant itself, but also in associated buildings on the site, all in an compatible architectural idiom.

Exterior

The building is largely designed around the necessities of production, according to modern flow principals. Thus, its dominant architectural feature - the tower at the east of the complex - represents the early stages of production in the transformation of the raw nylon polymer, behind which lay the large unimpeded spinning areas, with packing rooms at the far end (demolished). The large scale of the operation, and the aspirations towards a modern well-run and efficient factory lent emphasis also to welfare and social provision: the south range housed dining rooms, kitchens and cloakrooms as well as workshops and stores on the ground floor, with a block of administrative offices at first floor. These areas were separated from the main production floors by a series of internal courtyards with formal gardens. All elements of production are clearly expressed in the architectural composition. It uses a modernist idiom in planning as well as in detail: the site is planned around a solid geometry of linked cuboid blocks, their varying heights and volumes dictated by the functions which they were intended to house. Detail also uses a minimalist geometry of planes: grids of window serve to emphasise the underlying framed construction, and their differential placing, spacing and size again reflects the different functions of the different parts. There has been some alteration associated with the creation of new entrances etc., but the original arrangement remains substantially intact.

The building is steel-framed reinforced concrete with distinctive rustic brick facings. Windows are steel casements; dressings are artificial Portland stone. The building faces east: this elevation is dominated by the massive central tower; the balanced asymmetry of the range reflecting the different functions of its clearly articulated parts. The tower is functional, and advanced from its base is the loading bay for the raw material - the original works entrance is further south. The tower is articulated by a series of fins dividing areas of glazed brick, with a boldly projecting cornice over. Together these features make reference to the portico of a classical building, an appropriate symbol for the entry point of the raw material. To the left of the tower, the former laboratory and welfare block has high-set grids of steel casements, narrowly framed with artificial stone sills and cornices. This banded fenestration continues in the long south elevation, though the higher western extension of it has a continuous grid of windows immediately below the eaves cornice. To the right of the tower, plant rooms are expressed as blocks of varying heights, still with bands of window (various modern plant on the roof only superficially disturb the original geometry of composition). The long north range has similar windows, framed with 'ashlar' pilasters. The main production floors are set back from both south and north elevations, and rise higher, but are otherwise given similar treatment.

Interior

The plan and layout of the building were designed strictly around the original production process, and with the clear separation of production from office and welfare accommodation. Undivided factory floors for spinning are linked to the original welfare and administration block by corridors that cross a series of internal gardens. The structure of the building is also clearly expressed internally, with a frame of riveted girders and welded steel columns, concrete floors and ceilings.

Reasons for Listing

This major factory has survived with only superficial modification, and therefore illustrates with exceptional clarity key elements of early post-war industrial building design. It is a pioneering example of industrial architecture applied to a pioneering industry, by a leading Welsh architect of the C20. Its modernist idiom clearly expressed not only the organisation of production on the site, but also the aspirations for a clean modern industry to take its place in a well-planned development. It is therefore listed at grade II* as a landmark in the development of an architecture of industry, and of industrial culture in post-war Wales.

External Links

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.