Summary
Synagogue, with adjoining office building and flats, the office building constructed in 1958-1959 and the synagogue in 1960-1961; the architect for the scheme was TP Bennett & Son.
Reasons for Designation
The 1958-1961 development by TP Bennet & Son, comprising the Western Marble Arch Synagogue at 1 Wallenberg Place, the former Portman Estate office at 38 Seymour Street, and additional flats at 24 Great Cumberland Place, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest
* The Western Marble Arch Synagogue is a significant post-war synagogue building by a noted architectural practice;
* The main prayer hall is a striking space, making use of varied geometric forms in combination with lavish and inventive application of materials and detailing;
* The main prayer hall contains a sequence of stained-glass windows by the distinguished Israeli artist Nehemiah Azaz, installed in 1965-1982; the synagogue is also now home to noteworthy stained glass by David Hillman and Hardman & Co, brought from the Western Synagogue;
* The exterior of the development maintains the historic proportions of the earlier buildings, whilst demarcating the synagogue with a dignified colonnade, and providing a more overtly neo-Georgian exterior for the former Portman Estate office, with bold carved arms over the entrance.
Historic interest
* Built by the United Synagogue as the successor to the Great Synagogue in 1960-1961, the building represents a post-war continuation of a long tradition of Jewish worship in London, whilst its history is enriched by the more recent merging with the Western Synagogue – a congregation dating from 1761 – to create the independent Western Marble Arch Synagogue;
* The synagogue interior includes a range of spaces illustrating the building’s central role, including a Beit Hamidrash, a Succah, and a Bride’s Room, as well as the former banqueting suite, though there has been considerable change to these subsidiary areas.
Group value
* The circa 1960 complex respects the external unity of the late-C18 crescent, the northern part of which is listed separately at Grade II, and forms an integral part of the wider C18 planning of the Portman Estate, and its later development.
History
Wallenberg Place, formerly 26-40 Great Cumberland Place (even), forms the principal part of a crescent opening from Great Cumberland Place, originally intended as the eastern part of a complete circus, and built circa 1775-1789 as part of the Portman Estate development; building work began under the direction of the developer Abraham Adams, but was fraught with difficulties, and the crescent was finally completed in 1788-1789 by William Porden. The southern end of the crescent suffered serious bomb damage during the Second World War, and together with 38 Seymour Street, was redeveloped in 1958-1961 to designs by TP Bennett and Son. The scheme provided a synagogue – the Marble Arch Synagogue, later merged with the Western Synagogue to become the Western Marble Arch Synagogue (now 1 Wallenberg Place) – and a new headquarters building for the Portman Estate (38 Seymour Street), as well as a number of flats (24 Great Cumberland Place).
The requirement for the new synagogue followed the destruction by bombing of the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, Aldgate, during the Second World War. The Great Synagogue, London’s pre-eminent Ashkenazi synagogue, was first established in the late C17 and rebuilt and remodelled during the C18; it had been one of the five constituent London synagogues of the United Synagogue, established by Act of Parliament in 1870. The choice of the new site reflected the long-term movement of the Jewish community away from the City and East End. Funding for the Marble Arch Synagogue came from war damage claims relating to the Great Synagogue, from the United Synagogue, a bank loan, and congregational contributions.
The LCC’s Historic Buildings Division required that the new development be integrated into the proportions of the surviving Georgian crescent, whilst the inclusion of housing was a zoning requirement. TP Bennett later described the project as presenting an 'extremely difficult planning problem' (Jewish Chronicle, 1 September 1961). The site of the office building fronting Seymour Street was cleared in 1956 and the building largely completed in 1958. The synagogue site was cleared in 1958, and the foundation stone was laid on 3 April 1960 by Charles Clore, a leading donor to the building. The synagogue opened on 3 September 1961. Hailed as London’s new ‘cathedral synagogue’ (suggesting a continued tradition with both the Great Synagogue and the grand synagogues of the later C19, built following Jewish emancipation) the building’s prayer hall was designed to seat over 1000 people. The synagogue building also contained a communal hall and a junior synagogue/library (Beit Hamidrash) with a number of subsidiary rooms and offices, as well as flats for staff members and visitors. In the basement was a banqueting suite named the King David Suite. At between £500,000 and £600,000, the final cost of the building was considerably more than originally planned, and the concentration of decorative features within the principal public areas may reflect the escalating costs.
From 1965 to 1982, the prayer hall was fitted with stained glass by the Israeli artist Nehemia Azaz (1923-2008), the panels being set into windows originally provided for this purpose as part of the original plan; sponsorship of the windows provided additional funding for building works. Azaz received numerous international commissions, notably in Israel and America; he is best known in England for his contribution to Thomas Hancock’s 1964 synagogue at Carmel College, Oxfordshire (NHLE 1379944).
In 1991 the congregation of the Marble Arch Synagogue merged with that of the Western Synagogue, an independent Ashkenazi congregation dating from 1761; the merged congregations became the independent Western Marble Arch Synagogue. A number of fixtures and fittings, notably stained glass, formerly belonging to the Western Synagogue's 1957 synagogue in Crawford Place were transferred to the joint building. Although the local congregation of the synagogue has diminished considerably since the mid-C20, the synagogue serves a significant community of Jewish visitors and temporary residents in London.
In about 2011, the banqueting suite was converted for use by the neighbouring Montcalm Hotel; extensive changes included the loss of the original decorative scheme which featured walnut panelling and mirrors.
The office building at 38 Seymour Street ceased to serve as the Portman Estate headquarters in 2011, and was remodelled internally in 2013 by Feilden+Mawson Architects; the building is now commercially let. The flats at number 24 Great Cumberland Place remain in residential use.
In 2014 numbers 26-40 Great Cumberland Place were renamed Wallenberg Place, in honour of the Swede, Raoul Wallenberg, responsible for saving as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War; in 1997 a memorial to Wallenberg by Philip Jackson was unveiled in the crescent, close to the Swedish embassy as well as to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue.
The London-based architectural practice TP Bennett and Partners was founded in 1921 by Thomas Penberthy Bennett (later Sir Thomas, 1887-1980), appointed head of the School of Architecture at the Northern Polytechnic in the same year. The firm was well known for its commercial works, as well as apartment blocks, theatres and cinemas, and hospitals. In 1941 Bennett was made director of the Ministry of Works, becoming chairman of Crawley new town (1947-1960) and Stevenage (1951-1952). Bennett’s son Philip Hugh Penberthy Bennett (1919-2004) became a partner in 1948, and in 1967 succeeded his father as managing director of the firm. TP Bennett and Son were also responsible for St John’s Wood Synagogue, built for the United Synagogue in 1962-1964.
Details
Synagogue, with adjoining office building and flats, the office building constructed in 1958-1959 and the synagogue in 1960-1961. The architect for the scheme was TP Bennett & Son.
MATERIALS: concrete frame with stock brick elevations, the ground floor to the street-facing elevations being stuccoed with channelled rustication. The windows to these elevations have sash frames.
PLAN: the western side of the development follows the curve of Wallenberg Place, the larger, northern part belonging to the synagogue, with the rectangular block of 24 Great Cumberland Place and 38 Seymour Street adjoining to the south; the flats accessed via 28 Great Cumberland Place occupy the fifth floor/roof space across these buildings. The synagogue’s prayer hall is a large rectangular block projecting at a lower level to the north east. A further block to the north of that contains additional public rooms, with a taller section rising to the west containing the synagogue’s flats; there is additional space for flats in the Wallenberg Place range.
EXTERIOR: the buildings are of three storeys and attic over basements, with an additional fifth storey.
The elevation to Wallenberg Place closely follows the proportions and detailing of the surviving portion of the late-C18 crescent to the north, being of three main storeys, with an attic storey above the main entablature (this storey was added to the historic buildings in the early C20). The tall first-floor windows are fronted by curved iron balconies; there are shorter second-floor windows, and the attic windows are square. Above this, the top of the parapet is marked by an eaves cornice with blocking course, behind which is set back the additional storey containing the flats, with horizontal casement windows. This storey – which continues along the Great Cumberland Place and Seymour Street frontages – takes the place of the early-C20 mansard roofs on the earlier buildings to the north, as acknowledged by the angled roof slopes appearing at the corners, but has an appearance more in line with the circa 1960 date, and whilst visible, is intended to be visually distinct from the main elevations.
The synagogue occupies the northern fifteen bays of the Wallenberg Place elevation. In a significant departure from the C18 model, the principal section of the synagogue, containing the prayer hall, is fronted by a projecting colonnade with Doric columns supporting a frieze with dentil cornice, above which is a balustrade surrounding a wide balcony. Between the columns, the seven equal arched openings forming the ceremonial entrance to the synagogue are protected by wrought-iron grilles with gilded decoration; a pendant lantern hangs before each opening. The entrance in general use – which also gives access to the synagogue’s flats – is in the penultimate bay to the north, set in a semi-circular-arched opening; the details of the entrance, based on those of the surviving houses to the north, having double doors flanked by paired pilasters (representing sidelights), with a reeded frieze (in the replacement buildings the frieze has a central space for the house number) and fanlight above. To the south of the colonnade, the synagogue occupies a further window bay.
The extents of the southern end of the synagogue, and numbers 24 Great Cumberland Place and 38 Seymour Street, are not clearly differentiated externally. The entrance to the flats at 24 Great Cumberland Place is similar to others within the crescent. The three return bays to Great Cumberland Place match the return of the rebuilt 42 Great Cumberland Place to the north. The principal frontage to 38 Seymour Street is formed of eleven bays, and is neo-Georgian in appearance rather than being a facsimile of the houses previously on the site. The central entrance is approached by steps to west and east with an iron balustrade, rising over a central lunette. To either side of the entrance is a small window behind an iron grille. The three first-floor windows above the entrance are elongated and grouped behind an iron balcony with geometric detailing; above the central window is a large stone plaque with the Portman arms in relief.
The rear of the synagogue, to Quebec Mews, is more markedly expressive of the building’s circa 1960 date. The main section three-storey section is emphasised by a horizontal frame, rendered and painted, to the first floor, dominated by a horizontal multi-pane window with chunky concrete mullions and transoms, which provides light behind the Ark of the synagogue’s prayer hall. At ground-floor level is car-parking space, now with wide garage doors. The second floor has a setback block to the south, with a row of metal-framed windows, lighting the choir gallery, and to the north is a concrete stair with metal balustrade. The apex takes the gabled form of the shallow-pitched roof above. The secondary section to the north is six windows wide, with metal-framed casement windows over three storeys; the additional two-storey section is set back behind a roof terrace, with a metal staircase leading to a balcony. To the west of the prayer hall, the rear of the Wallenberg Place range has three storeys of fenestration with metal-framed casements. To the south is a full-height curved projecting bay with a recessed ground floor and a large multi-paned concrete window lighting the first-floor former committee room.
INTERIOR: the principal entrance to the SYNAGOGUE, leading to the prayer hall, is through the seven doorways fronted by the colonnade. These open to the foyer, which has a somewhat organic form, narrower to the north, with the curve of the crescent to the west, and a serpentine mezzanine to the south, supported on a panelled pillar. The foyer is panelled with Australian walnut, and floored with terrazzo, with a row of geometric vitriolite lanterns hanging in front of the main prayer hall to the east. A screen has been introduced to the south-west of the prayer hall, providing a hand-washing area. To the south, the ‘brides’ room’ retains sycamore panelling. The prayer hall is entered through a hardwood screen with banded mouldings suggesting a pared-down linenfold; the upper part of the screen is glazed and the three pairs of bronze glazed doors have geometric brass push-handles. Between this and an inner screen is a lobby, lit by a metal tubular chandelier.
The prayer hall is traditional in overall layout, being rectangular in plan, entered from the west and with the Ark at the eastern end; the Bimah (the platform from which the Torah is read) is placed at the centre of the prayer hall. Seating for men is to the west of the Bimah, and in tiered row to north and south, whilst the women’s gallery surrounds the hall on three sides. The hall is a large and impressive space, making use of varied geometric forms in combination with lavish and inventive application of materials, including extensive Australian walnut panelling, though some economies are evident. The seven bays are defined by the portal frame structure, the shallow-pitched roof lined with geometric panelling forming Stars of David with central inset panels of blue leather; the trusses, which appear to be veneered with contrasting blonde wood, are actually papered. The cantilevered women’s gallery is also fronted with walnut, here with a continuous leather inset pattern of intersecting zig-zags; the geometric balustrade fronting the gallery has brass handrails with uprights of gilt wood, apparently in imitation of metal. Similar balustrades feature on the Bimah and the dais and steps preceding the Ark; the dais has a walnut desk to either side, and a central lectern. The Ark recess is flanked by full-height timber panels, representing a folding screen, with inner doors on stylised timber hinges. The Ark itself is framed by a grille or screen of timber and metal – the outer faces of the metal gilded – with doors in a projecting frame protecting the Ark, and with a net curtain hung behind. Behind the screen, at mezzanine level, is the choir gallery, the whole area lit by a high horizontal window in the rear wall, visible through the net curtain, its form appearing somewhat incongruous. The seating, for both men and women, is in the form of fixed timber benches with armrests, upholstered in blue leather. The floor is carpeted in the same blue, a colour which became standard in United Synagogue buildings during this period. Above the gallery are hung rows of circular brass chandeliers, with inverted shades of black and white vitriolite. The north and south walls are fitted with stained glass, with electrical backlighting. On the ground floor is a sequence of 36 brilliantly-coloured semi-abstract panels representing Jewish festivals by Nehemia Azaz. The prayer hall contains a variety of other stained glass, installed at different times; the process of installations continues (2024). At gallery level are octagonal glass panels painted with views of Israel, surrounded by geometrical coloured glass, and at clerestory level, circular flower panels. To the east and west are larger panels brought from the Western Synagogue, those to the west being by David Hillman (1894-1974). The panels at the east end are thought to be by Hardman & Co; one to the south-east, at the level of the women's gallery, represents the Hebrew month of Nisan, with a rare depiction in stained glass of concentration camp buildings and barbed wire.
The women’s gallery is accessed from the first-floor foyer, which replicates the ground-floor foyer in form. Originally lit by the first-floor sash windows, these openings have been filled with inner timber screens, to hold stained mid-C20 stained glass panels, removed from the Western Synagogue; the figurative windows, by Hillman, illustrate Jewish festivals. Additional panels are accommodated in screens against the northern part of the eastern wall. Fitted to the southern part of the eastern wall are display cabinets, not original, designed to hold items relating to the history of the synagogue. At the southern end of the foyer, as with the ground-floor foyer below, doors set into the panelling lead to offices and meeting rooms; these do not retain historic features of note.
The main stair at the southern end of the building, between the basement and first floors, and accessed from the ground- and first-floor foyers, is curved on plan. There is a hardwood handrail with solid balustrades to the landings and metal panels with horizontal bars to the flights; the string and treads are terrazzo and the walls are panelled, with linenfold panelling to the mezzanine.
The northern part of the building is accessed via the northern entrance, which leads to a lobby from which rises a geometric stair with a narrow open-well. The handrail is bronze; the metal balustrade with horizontal bars now has glass safety panels. The walls of the stairwell are lined with terrazzo panels. On the ground floor, the large meeting hall has been extensively refurbished during the early 1990s, with blonde-wood doors set in a large screen and new flooring tiles. To the west end, a space originally intended for a Succah (a temporary booth erected to celebrate the festival of Succot, as a reminder of the nomadic existence of the biblical Children of Israel in the desert) was filled with a permanent open timber roof structure; this space has separate access to the prayer hall. On the first floor, a second meeting room/junior synagogue, now the Beit Hamidrash (or study hall), also used for services, was refurbished during the same period; besides extensive shelving, its fittings include items brought from the Western Synagogue, including wrought-iron Ark doors, and stained-glass window panels thought to be by Hardman and Co. Subsidiary rooms on both ground and first floors are without historic features of note.
The north stair also gives access to the flats on the upper floors and to the rear, intended for the rabbi, staff, and visitors. Thought always to have been simple in layout and decoration, these have undergone some reconfiguration, and do not retain features of note; these spaces are of lesser interest.
The basement, originally the synagogue’s banqueting suite, has now been extensively remodelled for use by the neighbouring Montcalm Hotel, with changes to the layout as well the loss of all original decoration and fittings. Access remains via the main stair from the synagogue’s ground-floor foyer; in addition, a stair has been constructed to connect the basement with the hotel’s southernmost entrance on Wallenberg Place. The basement area is now of lesser interest.
The interior of 38 SEYMOUR PLACE has been extensively refurbished and reconfigured internally, with the loss of much of the original layout and any noteworthy historic features. The interiors are therefore of lesser interest.
The interior of the group of flats accessed via the entrance to 24 GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE and occupying the fifth floors of the eastern and southern parts of the development are understood to be without historic features of note.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the development is surrounded on the western and southern sides by cast-iron area railings with spearhead finials, like those to the surviving houses in the northern part of the crescent. The entrance to 38 Seymour Place is framed by ornate iron standard lanterns with scrolled details.
