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WHY NOT
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It
takes people’s breath away then, and it does the same today, although sadly,
the building no longer houses a bank. For a detailed look at some of the
fantasy-filled architecture and interior design work, see our feature THE LIVER BIRDS.
In 1982, and again in
1992 (to commemorate the fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries of the
building), BARCLAYS produces a
booklet describing how and by whom it was built, and at what cost. That story
is reproduced here, amongst pictures of Martins’ magnificent HEAD
OFFICE…
Image
© 1932 Stewart Bale Collection – displayed under licence from Liverpool
Museums
One of the great
bank buildings…
In 1925, the old Bank of Liverpool building in Water Street was
proving quite inadequate to cope with the increasing business and the
Directors acquired two properties on a large island site opposite for £220,000. The site, roughly
rectangular in shape, is about 180 ft. in length and over 140 ft. in width.
It fronts on to Water Street, the principal thoroughfare leading up from the
river; while the east side faces Exchange Flags and overlooks the Town Hall.
On the other two sides, the site is bounded by comparatively narrow streets,
Rumford Street and Exchange Passage West. Designed on classical Roman lines
by Herbert J. Rowse, it forms a striking block with its facade reaching 150
ft. above ground level. The design was the result of a limited competition
between three London and three Liverpool architects. There were many
difficulties to overcome, including the problem of 'ancient lights', which
Mr. Rowse surmounted in such a way as to contribute greatly to the beauty of
the building by setting it back in successive planes at the levels of
neighbouring roofs.
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The façade of 4 Water
Street onto Exchange Flags |
The opulence of the banking
hall has long been a talking point. Every effort has been
made to preserve its magnificence. |
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There are nine floors
above ground level, plus a mezzanine and three below, with foundations 50 ft.
under the building. It is of fireproof, steel-frame construction, with
reinforced concrete floors and stairs. The external walls are brick lined
with hollow tiles and faced with Portland stone from the St. Paul's and
Wakeham quarries. Notable for its beauty and for the fact that exposure to
the atmosphere increases its whiteness, the stone was stored and cut at
William Moss's masonry works in Liverpool. Central
Lighting Court The new bank premises
were designed around a large central open-lighting court, which provides
internal lighting to the various upper floors. This well has received as much
care as the exterior elevations, and is faced with ivory glazed bricks
decorated with terracotta and Lombardic tile cornicing. At the base of the
lighting court is the glazed roof that provides light to the banking hall
below through an ornamental lay-light. This lay-light is at the level of the
second floor and at a height of about 40 ft. above the banking hall floor. To all intents and
purposes, the ground floor is one large room with the high central portion,
90 x 56 ft., devoted to the main banking activities. This fine lofty hall,
unobstructed by columns, was made possible by carrying the walls of the light
well on a system of cantilevers. It is surrounded by double-vaulted,
Italian-style, colonnades of great beauty and through which other halls are
visible.
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Such is the sheer size and
grandeur of the main banking hall, that it is used by Martins Bank for its annual carol concert. These images are from the concert held in
December 1960 |
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In the centre of the hall is the main public counter designed
from purple Leventine, vert antico and black marbles. The ornamental grille and
other metalwork is of gold bronze. Steps lead up to the banking hall from the
main entrance at the top of which is a war memorial comprising a wall
inscription and a Roll of Honour in volume form, a
fresh page of which is turned each day. At the four corners of the hall are
finely proportioned rotundas out of which run the main staircases and lifts
serving the upper part of the building. The principal areas on the ground floor are highly finished with
decorative stones. Travertine marble is employed as a wall lining in the
rotundas, the main vestibule and banking hall, while the supporting columns
are made from travertine drums threaded onto solid steel cores. The plaster
work in the ceiling has been picked out in brilliant colours of gold, emerald
green and Indian red and the marble floor is patterned with similar stones to
those used for the banking counter.
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Boardroom
Suite The first floor was occupied by the bank's administration
offices and along the Water Street side were the offices of the Chairman, the
general manager and his assistant and secretaries and the conference room.
The remainder of the floors up to the eighth were designed as tenantable
office accommodation. The boardroom suite, dining rooms and kitchen are
located on the eighth, and a flat, originally designed for the Chairman, on
the ninth, commanding a fine view over the city and the river. The remaining
portions of the roof were laid out as garden enclosed by colonnades which
have the added benefit of hiding the lift-machinery penthouses from view and
actually improving the silhouette of the building. The Boardroom is of exceptional interest and, though the beamed
walnut ceiling and marble chimney piece are in character reminiscent of
Renaissance Italy, the design and decorations are most original. The ceiling is
carved and painted in various motifs redolent of the sea including Neptunes,
dolphins, ships and mermaids, with reds, greens and blues as the predominant
colours. These alternate with symbols of the LIVER BIRD and Grasshopper which together formed the COAT OF ARMS of Martins Bank. A carpet measuring 49 ft. x 19 ft. was
specially woven repeating the design on the floor and furnishings include a
fine horseshoe table made from solid walnut. At one end is a smaller chamber
designed as a committee room. The sculpture and decoration of the building generally are
intended to be indicative of the fact that Liverpool derived her wealth
largely from her association with the sea. Friezes of crabs and lobsters,
dolphins, sea shells and legendary sea characters are displayed with coins
and bills alongside the Bank's own heraldry.
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From
Bombs to Beatles, a Day in the Life… 1939
(left) Mr Charles Carter, a visiting inspector was one of the many volunteers
who filled
sandbags to protect the Head Office building on the outbreak of war.
1964
(right) Mr Jack Jones, the bank’s joiner, protecting windows against possible
damage by crowds
who welcomed the Beatles on arrival at Liverpool Town Hall for their Civic
Reception |
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Below
Ground Level The bank vaults are in the basement directly below the banking hall.
It was here that a portion of the gold of the Bank of England was transferred
shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939 when the threat of air attack and
invasion made Liverpool seem a safer place than London. Later on it was
shipped to Canada. Below, in the sub-basement, which has been excavated out
of sandstone, are situated extensive storerooms for the use of tenants
renting offices in the building, and great oil tanks for the central heating
system, each holding 7,000 gallons. The boiler house is under the
sub-basement. The building contains many original features. For example: the
reinforced concrete floors have been modified to house an under-floor duct
system concealing power and telephone cables. Heating is automatically
controlled by a system of thermostatically-operated panels embodied in the
ceilings. Special consideration has also been given to the arrangement of
plumbing and there are no visible pipes — even to the walls of the central lighting court.
A rotunda to the right
of the main entrance Five
Years to Build William Moss, who were then based at Roscoe Street, Liverpool were
the general contractors for the building and, in addition to carrying out all
the important aspects of that undertaking, they were responsible for the
foundations, Portland stone and granite masonry, brickwork, reinforced
concrete floors, strong rooms and the standard joinery. It took nearly five
years for this work to be completed. In submitting his programme to the Bank's building committee in
April, 1927, the architect put forward eight tenders for demolition work on
site. William Moss were not awarded this contract since it was placed with
the lowest tender of £16,777 while Moss quoted £17,750. However, they were successful in gaining the next three
contracts as, in each case. Moss offered the lowest tender. They were also
very competitive on timing, another important factor since Mr. Rowse was
working to a strict schedule. The contracts for the foundation work and stone masonry were
both given to Moss at a meeting on 11 September, 1928, for £13,897 and £17,451
10s respectively. Their tender of £476,402 for the main superstructure was
accepted on 22 January, 1929, although it was the second lowest submitted to
the Board. Savings
Made As a matter of interest, when the final accounts were produced, there
was a saving on two of the contracts awarded to Moss. Namely, £131 16s for the
foundations and £5,367 Os 5d for the structural steel. There was an
additional charge of £426 2s 11d on the excavation work.
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Before and After 1960
The building undergoes its first major clean since being built
Since
Completion A number of alterations have, of necessity, had to be made to
the building since it was completed. However, all the work that has been
carried out has been to the same high standard as the original and, wherever
possible, matching materials have been used. Major alterations have included
changing the boilers to gas fired operations (retaining the ability to use
oil in an emergency), the strengthening of some of the underground strong
room areas prior to the last war and, with the need to improve security, the
ornamental gold/bronze grille surrounding the counter in the Banking Hall has
been replaced by a glass bandit screen. Externally, the walls were washed
down in the 1970's to remove the accumulated grime.
Acknowledgements:
Barclays and The William Moss Group
2017:
Eighty-five years, and still going?
Eighty-five years on, and in 2017,
some ten years after serving the last customer at the counter, the future for
our magnificent Head Office would still seem to be in the balance. On the
plus side, the internal time-warp of 1930s England means she is in demand
like never before for inclusion in film and television productions. From a
post war London Hotel in BBC TV’s “Close to the Enemy” to a Harry Potter-like
bank in J K Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, 4 Water Street has
brought a degree of reality to
productions, that re-creation by film set alone simply could not do. In the
longer term plans for the conversion to a five star hotel have now been on
the table for very long time, and whilst we are not holding our breath, we
wish this particular idea to have the strongest of wings, so that generations
to come can appreciate the splendour of this magical place. |
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