The cigarette product created in this
building were known as 'Black Cats' and to illustrate this point, two black
cats, each two metres tall, are outside the main entrance to the building. Also,
high up on the buildings are reliefs of black cats with bright yellow
eyes.
The Art Deco blog [visit link]
carries an article about the building that tells us:
"This Egyptian temple was built in 1926-28 by architects
M.E and O.H Collins with A.G Porri just a few years after Howard Carter had
discovered the intact tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun. Originally Carreras
Cigarette Factory it became an office building in the 1960s losing many of the
wonderful Art Deco features.
Egyptian inspired Art Deco at its most colourful and
those colours are amazing. Blue, red and green at the top and bottom of each
column emphasising the lotus flower a common ancient Egyptian design
motif.
The entrance is guarded by a pair of black cats. These
statues stand over a metre tall at the top of a short flights of steps leading
up to a modern glass doorway.
The black cat was the logo of Carreras Cigarettes and is
also represented in a series of reliefs along the façade of the building either
side of the Carreras name. Seen close up, the reliefs show a cats head with
bright yellow eyes and wire whiskers.
Now called Greater London House the building was
restored in 1999."
The Heritage Elettra website [visit
link] tells us about the building:
"Arcadia Works, London
By: Marcus Evelyn Collins & Owen Hyman Collins with
Arthur George Porri
Built: 1926 - 1928
Standing on Hampstead Road in North London, opposite
Mornington Crescent tube station and half a mile north of Euston Road, the
Arcadia Works was built between 1926 and 1928 for the Carreras Tobacco Company.
The company was established in 1788 and started business in London in the
mid-1850s. By 1907 the company had a large works on City Road (which runs
roughly from Moorgate north-west to Angel) in North London. By 1927 the company
had outgrown its City Road works. The company commissioned plans for a new
London headquarters for the company.
Arthur George Porri submitted plans for a
classical-influenced building whilst architect Marcus Evelyn Collins suggested a
stylised Egyptian frontage. The Egyptian style echoed the increasing influence
of Egypt on art and design following the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922
by British archaeologist Howard Carter. The Egyptian design was married to
Porri's overall scheme. The design of the building was credited to the practice
of Marcus Evelyn Collins and Owen Hyman Collins with A G Porri and Partners as
consultant.
Marcus Evelyn Collins was born in 1861 and died in 1944.
His father, Hyman Henry Collins (1883 - 1905) was a well-known architect having
designed the New London Synagogue in St John's Wood, London. Marcus Evelyn
Collins and Owen Hyman Collins worked in practice in London until March 1939
when the partnership was dissolved, although both continued in practice, albeit
separately from the same office at 115 Old Broad Street in
London.
Arthur George Porri was born in 1877 and died in 1962.
He was also responsible for the Eli Lilly building on Kingsclere Road in
Basingstoke. The building, a four-storey laboratory, is another Modernist
industrial works.
The Arcadia Works, also known as the Carreras Cigarette
Factory, is a large imposing building, with its frontage on Hampstead Road
extending for more than 500 ft. The design comprises an, at the time, unique
pre-stressed concrete frame. The company publicised the Arcadia Works as
'London's Most Hygienic Tobacco Factory', by virtue of its air conditioning and
dust extraction plant.
The main entrance to the building is flanked by two 8
½ft high bronze statues of the cat-goddess Bastet (Carreras used a black cat on
its Craven A cigarette packaging). The main frontage comprises a central block
of 13 bays with two lower wings of eight bays either side. The bays within the
central section are separated by columns with Egyptian-stylised
capitals.
The bays, from the first floor level, are filled with
tall metal-framed windows. Window blanks disguise the floor level allowing the
windows to rise uninterrupted for four storeys. Above, the company name
'Carreras' is spelt out in raised Egyptian-style lettering. Either side, for the
outside ten bays, reliefs showing the face of Bastet are placed in circular
recesses. Above, a further storey with metal framed windows is surmounted by a
highly decorative, deep cavetto-form parapet.
The lower wings are simpler in design with mouldings
separating the eight bays. These wings also feature the same deep parapet,
although plain in decoration. At pavement level ornamental railings featuring
Egyptian hieroglyphs surround the building. The rear of the building is much
simpler, with plain walls with large windows. A tall chimney rises high over the
building.
The building was officially opened with great fanfare on
3 November 1928. The pavements were covered in sand, opera singers from a London
staging of Verdi's opera Aida and actors in Ancient Egypt-style costumes
performed, while chariot races were held on the street. The company struck a
commemorative medal in celebration for all 3,000 employees, with the inscription
'My Thanks For All Your Help - Bernhard Baron, Chairman, Carreras
Ltd'.
In 1959 the Carreras company merged with the Rothmans
company and the new company relocated. The Arcadia Works was put up for
disposal. By that time the Egyptian styling had fallen out of favour. In 1961
all traces of Collins' scheme were obliterated, with the columns 'boxed' in.
Renamed Greater London House, the Arcadia Works was used as office
space.
In 1996 Greater London House was acquired by Resolution
Property. Executive architects Finch Forman and design architects Munkenbeck and
Marshall were commissioned to restore, as far as possible, the original Egyptian
scheme. The project including reinstating two replica cats outside the main
entrance. The restoration won a Civic Trust Award and a Camden Design Award, and
the project was featured as Building of the Month in the RIBA
Journal."