Lion Brushworks

A factory unit for Lion Brushworks at Killingworth was designed to provide offices, a canteen, workshop, plating area and machine room. The building had a brick superstructure, while the workshop facade was clad in metal sheeting capable of extension. The main elevation was all of brick, with clerestory lighting, and given added visual interest by projecting display windows at ground-floor level. The office accommodation was enclosed within the main volume, making use of the height requirement for the factory but given two floors.

The external fuel tank in the car park entrance was given a sculptural role by elevating it up on a single support out of its shallow concrete basin. ‘The oil tank, an acrobatic cube, hops on one foot and doubles as a trademark’, the architects explained.

All images courtesy of Henk Snoek / RIBA Library Photographs Collection