Page 13 - HeritageEbooklet

The Marble Hall

The original plan for the factory site at Nightingale Road included office
accommodation, but the purpose-built office block wasn’t actually
completed until 1912. The Commercial Block (as it was known) was
developed on the empty area of land between the factory and the
Nightingale Road frontage. The block opened in 1913 and provided offices
for senior employees.

Originally the main entrance was situated at the northern end of the
building but, in 1938, the office building underwent a major refurbishment.
The nine central bays of the building’s façade were replaced with a new, grander
entrance known as the ‘Marble Hall’. Designed by architects Arthur Eaton and
Son, the new entrance hall was built in a classical deco style. Its stone-faced
frontage included a balcony and featured the double R Rolls-Royce motif.
The interior of the hall was adorned with Tuscan columns and paved with
polished limestone. A double staircase with metal open balusters led up to
the first floor offices and the wood panelled boardroom.

Photo: Jesper and picturethepast.org.uk Left: The ‘Marble

Hall’ entrance at the
Nightingale Road offices,
photographed in about
1954. Today the office
block is the only building
that remains of the
original factory site.
13