The tickets to see around the complex were by ballot only. The lucky visitors, who included Digital Journal’s London-based reporter, enjoyed an expert -led exclusive tour inside 55 Broadway.
The visit proved popular with users of social media. One of the visitors, Paul Hamilton
(@pauliehamilton) tweeted: “Here we go #tube #nerd #London #tfl @ 55 Broadway.”
On Instagram, one visitor Marco Zanell (@marco__zanelli) wrote: “#ldn4all_moonday – stunning view of London from 55 The Broadway, St James park.” This was a reference to the spectacular views of London from the rooftop.
55 Broadway was the former headquarters of London Underground. At present it still serves as offices for London’s transport operations, although staff will soon be vacating and moving out to east London. 55 Broadway will become a block of luxury flats.
The visit in June 2016 provided the last opportunity for the public to see the building as it was originally designed.
When the complex first opened it was considered radical and, to some, offensive. This partly due to the overpowering design. The building was built with Portland stone.
The complex has an irregular footprint. Unusually, for London, the upper office floors of the building are on a cruciform plan, stepping back towards the central clock tower at the top. This was in place of the customary hollow rectangle format and ti was designed to maximize light for those working inside.
And partly due to the neo-classical nude sculptures embedded at different locations on the outside of the building. The modernist sculptures, called ‘Day and Night’, were by Jacob Epstein. The sculptor often produced controversial works which challenged taboos.
The building was designed by Charles Holden and built between 1927 and 1929. Holden was a was a Bolton-born English architect.
Inside are features rendered Travertine marble — used extensively in the interior — from Italy.
Together with bronze fittings.
The lifts within the building, while retaining period charm, are operational.
Plus examples of old memorabilia, such as these measurement devices for recording train times.
During the early years, the building was managed by Frank Pick. Pick steered the development of the London Underground’s corporate identity by commissioning eye-catching commercial art, graphic design and modern architecture. This included early forays into branding and establishing corporate identities such as the adoption of a bespoke font.
An instruction from cleaners, from 1962, states the building was to be cleaned using “Just water, a bronze wire brush and elbow grease.”
The Grade I listed building was unveiled in 1929. Grade I means the fundamental features of the building cannot be altered.
The complex was constructed as a new headquarters for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), the forerunner of today’s London Underground.
Another interesting fact about the building is that it was London’s first skyscraper (as defined in architectural terms of creating a building from a steel frame, with 19 massive load-bearing steel girders spanning the underground railway running beneath the building.) On completion it was the tallest office block in the city.
The 14 stories provided plenty of interesting and original features. Guides from Hidden London were on hand to explain the history of the building and its key features.
This included beautifully detailed offices. There was, during the 1930s through to the 1980s, a rigid hierarchy in place, with the standard workers busy on the lower floors and the chairman and executive occupying the walnut veneered upper offices and suites.
The first chairman was Albert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield. Baron Ashfield led London transport during one of the most significant periods in the organisation’s history, a period subsequently considered to be its heyday and sometimes called its “Golden Age.”
There are also some grand meetings rooms. The function suite on the 10th floor of the building was formerly set up as a dining room for the chairman and senior executives.
There are also two roof gardens.
At the top, the building provided a new perspective on the U.K.’s capital city.
The rooftops views were truly stunning. One Twitter user, called Neek (@vitscot), tweeted: “Fantastic views of #London from Charles Holden’s 55 Broadway building for Underground Electric Railways Co., 1927-9.”
