British Ceramic Research Association

Summary

British Ceramic Research Association Headquarter and Laboratories, built 1948-1951 to designs by Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath.

Reasons for Designation

The former British Ceramic Research Association building, of 1948-1951 by Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its confident, sophisticated design which utilises elements of neo-Georgian and modernist architectural detailing to produce a building of notable quality;
* for the quality of its internal decoration, focussed particularly in the central entrance hall and secondary stairs;
* for its degree of survival; despite some alterations to accommodate evolving research practices, the building survives well.

Historic interest:

* for its place as an interesting part of the story of the pottery industry in Stoke on Trent.

History

The British Ceramic Research Association (BCRA) was formed in April 1948, when the British Refractories Research Association (formed 1920) and the British Pottery Research Association (formed 1937) were merged. The latter had occupied a site on Queens Road in Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent, since its formation, and this site was chosen for the home of the new, merged organisation.

A new building was commissioned for the headquarters and laboratories of the BCRA from local practice Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath. This firm had been founded by Absalom Reade Wood, previously Surveyor to Tunstall Urban District Council, in 1874. The new building on Queens Road was constructed between 1947 and 1950 and was formally opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in December 1951. The individual architect of the building is not known, but there are clear influences in the design from Swedish architect Ivor Tengbom, with particular reference in the design of the portico at the BCRA to his Stockholm Concert Hall of 1926.

The BCRA has occupied the site since this time, changing its name at various times in the later C20 as it became a trading company and absorbed other companies, and is currently (2022) known as Lucideon.

Details

British Ceramic Research Association Headquarter and Laboratories, built 1948-1951 to designs by Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath.

MATERIALS: steel frame constructed with brick and stone elevations and tile roof.

PLAN: the building is orientated roughly north-south, with its principal elevation facing Queens Road to the east. The main block has a central entrance hall with axial corridors to either side, and projecting rear wings at the centre and each end.

EXTERIOR: the building's principal elevation is characterised by its central portico of six tall, baseless columns which rise the full height of the facade to support a pediment above. The octagonal columns are clad in tiles and stylised Ionic capitals after those on Stockholm Concert Hall, though the latter are Corinthian. The pediment has plain mouldings and a blank tympanum. Above the portico in the roof is a tall cupola after that on Stockholm City Hall. Behind the columns of the portico is full-height ashlar with the main entrance doors (the doors themselves now modern), in a moulded surround with the words BRITISH CERAMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATION carved above. Above and flanking are tall windows which light the full-height entrance hall within. The steps that rise to the main entrance are flanked by metal ramped railings in an Art Deco style.

Either side of the central portico are five-bay ranges with projecting two-bay wings at each end, with tall roofs above and some dormer windows. The elevations are of brick with a stone plinth throughout. The windows are timber sash with cambered heads at ground floor and flat heads at first floor, all with stone keystones. There is a continuous stone cornice at eaves level.

The style and detailing continues to the side elevations which have stone architraves to their central, ground floor windows.

The rear elevation is of three storeys due to the ground levels, with a pronounced basement storey in rusticated stone. The end wings have differing shades of brick to give the effect of pilasters, while the central blocks have the effect of pilasters from full height sections of darker, profiled brick.

INTERIOR: the main entrance opens into a double height entrance hall with full-height octagonal columns on three sides. These have stylised capitals and support the room with a ceiling of compartmentalised plaster panels. An imperial stair rises in two flights towards the front of the building, with a gallery across the base of the full-height windows, before rising again to the fist floor landing. The stair has curved and ramped sides clad in bronze, surmounted by bronze handrails with intermittent moulded balusters. The walls adjacent to the windows have plaster detailing in a stylised Greek motif, which is repeated in etching in the glazing of the windows. This motif is repeated on internal timber doors either side of the main entrance. The floor of the entrance hall has modern tiling with a section of Minton style tiles, and the walls of the lower level have original tiling in a diamond pattern. The flooring of the stairs themselves appears to be original tiling.
There are two commemorative plaques on the rear wall of the entrance hall. One is headed BRITISH CERAMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATION and commemorates the forming of the then BCRA, with names of members of the council on the occasion of the building's opening in 1951. It also notes the architects Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath, and the contractors B Bailey and Co. The other plaque commemorates the opening of the building by His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

To the rear of the entrance hall in the projecting rear wing is a large room which has been modernised save for its parquet flooring. Either side of the entrance hall, central corridors give access to offices and laboratories on each level. Some rooms have surviving plain cornicing in the style of the time, and there are some original doors, handles and skirting.

At the end of each wing there is a secondary stair with handrails in a similar style to the main stair but clad in chrome.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 265

Other
Stoke on Trent Historic Environment Record reference: DSR405

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