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| Art Deco Style Buildings in Sandwell | |||||||||
| What We are Doing | Although they are not as well known as they should be, Sandwell has some decent buildings dating from the 1930's or a little later. A few are listed, most are not, and all should be better known. This website tries to describe what these buildings look like, and what is known about them, even though in some cases they have already disappeared. | News - The Barleycorn Proposal This
art deco style pub in Bearwood Road is set to become a casino against
the wishes of local residents. The proposed design updates the art deco
features in a bold way - maybe a bit over the top! Remember 1930's Art
Deco was often based on ship design.
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| Factory Buildings | The 'six towns' (Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich) were until quite recently vital manufacturing centres. In the later 1930's, coming out of the depression, the factory owners showed confidence in themselves by employing forward-thinking architects to come up with innovative designs for their office buildings and gatehouses, the public faces of their companies. | ||||||||
| Churches | A number of churches of various denominations were built at this time, Roman Catholics in particular seeming keen to adopt new designs. | ||||||||
| Civic Pride | The local
councils also showed their civic pride with a range of public
buildings from council offices to public libraries, clinics or swimming
baths. |
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| Private Sector | The commercial sector sometimes risked public disapproval by building showrooms or licensed premises in styles that most ordinary British people did not think much of (except for cinemas design as these were only 'dream palaces' and so exempt from ordinary 'good taste'.) | ||||||||
| Bricks and Tiles | The fact that the style was not popular in Britain led to some compromises. A good example is the use of brickwork both structurally and decoratively. The skills of the bricklayer added interest to surfaces and softened hard geometrical outlines. | ||||||||
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All the material on this web site is © Tim O'Mara, unless otherwise stated,
and may not be copied, downloaded or otherwise reproduced or retransmitted
without his permission.
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