54
CHANGING PL ACES
UNDERSTANDING
ACT V: EBB & FLOW
It’s remarkable to think that, throughout two centuries of rich history at London Dock, our new home, Pennington Street Warehouse, stood almost untouched. Through this time, it witnessed the heyday of sailing ships, survived World War II bombing raids and savage deindustrialisation and stood firm in trade union battles. Now, ever present and full of potential, it is poised to play a new role in fast-moving urban revitalisation, as the city sweeps ever eastwards. Located on the northernmost edge of what was London Dock, it runs tight along the cobbles of Pennington Street, with barely a pavement to speak of. It is a single-storey brick building with a pitched roof above a semi-basement of vaulted brickwork arches. The ground floor, which is divided into five separate sections, seems curiously elevated above street level, but was devised to accommodate the long-gone quayside level of the docks that once lay to the south.
Designed by the Dock’s surveyor, engineer Daniel Alexander, the Grade II-listed building was constructed in several phases between 1804 and 1806 and is one of the largest surviving Georgian warehouses in London. While simple in form it’s an extraordinary 315 metres in length, with a north façade designed to secure the northern boundary wall of London Dock and therefore devoid of windows. Internally the walls to the north elevation incorporate a structure of arches and inverted arches which were created to provide access during construction, then bricked up on completion. To the south, the elevation is a little more open, incorporating loading bay openings once used for transporting barrels from the quayside. The elegance of Pennington Street Warehouse is clearly appreciated by author George Courtney Lyttleton: The quays belonging to this magnificent undertaking [London Dock] are of immense length, with a shed over the front, for covering goods as they may be landed ... On the spacious quay at the north side of the dock, there are five distinct piles of buildings, each containing six divisions of warehouses. The cellars are ten feet high, and compleatly [sic] arched over, with an earthen flooring, beat down to equal the firm substance of brick, which is three feet above the level of the water.
From a most minute survey of these magnificent works, it is evident that the ingenious and able architect, has sedulously aimed at blending, and succeeded in the accomplishment of a work which at once unites simplicity and grandeur of appearance, and which may justly be viewed as a chef "d'oeuvre of its kind. What is overlooked is the uniqueness of the basement vaults, which to this day form part of the longest complex of continuous cellars in the UK. Designed to store barrels of high-value alcohol, they were secure, protected from light and had a cool, stable temperature to aid preservation, with a ventilation system embedded within the thick brick walls that drew fresh air from outside. Large barrels of rum were one of the principal products stored, to the extent that the building became known as ‘The Rum Warehouse’, although ledgers and photographic archives reveal an extensive array of other products including exotic spices. The excavation of the vast basement vaults created huge volumes of spoil, which was shipped upriver to Pimlico to prepare the low-lying area located there for development. Pennington Street Warehouse itself was also built on marshy, reclaimed ground, with foundations constructed of deep brick walls corbelling out and supported on oak piles. The inverted arches set into the external walls were most likely incorporated to mitigate the settlement and movement that was envisaged in this poor ground.
During the News International years, part of Pennington Street Warehouse housed service areas for the printing presses, including ink storage, plant machinery and generators. Other areas housed journalists, with one room famously including a wall covered with The Sun’s most notorious front pages. From 2006 to 2009 the building accommodated the headquarters for News International’s shortlived free daily, The London Paper. As we began to contemplate how we would go about the design of our new workplace, the refurbishment of Pennington Street Warehouse’s shell and core were already underway. Undertaken by St George with heritage specialists Richard Griffiths Architects, a new entrance lobby incorporating a lift and staircases was created through the removal of four stone pillars. The external façade was being carefully cleaned, and the arches stripped of layers of paint and plaster removed to reveal the beautiful original brickwork. After a long fifty-year slumber, Pennington Street Warehouse was finally waking up.
55
