Hoover Building | |
---|---|
The Hoover Building
|
|
Location within Greater London
|
|
General information | |
Town or city | Perivale |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°32′01″N 0°19′08″W / 51.533611°N 0.318889°W |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Wallis, Gilbert and Partners |
The Hoover Building on Western Avenue (A40) in Perivale, west London, is a Grade II* listed building of Art Deco architecture designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners.
It was built for The Hoover Company in 1933, and was designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners.
In 1938 Building No 7 was added, as the factory canteen.
John Betjeman described it as, "a sort of Art Deco Wentworth Woodhouse – with whizzing window curves derived from Erich Mendelsohn's work in Germany, and splashes of primary colour from the Aztec and Mayan fashions at the 1925 Paris Exhibition."
During the Second World War the Hoover Factory manufactured aircraft parts. Cleaners were still being produced, but output was much lower than previously. The buildings were camouflaged to avoid being bombed by German aircraft. The building's staff set up their own Home Guard unit.
In 1980 the original building and in 1981 the canteen block were granted a Grade II* listing.
In 1989 the supermarket chain Tesco purchased the Hoover Building and sixteen of the seventeen houses that backed onto the Hoover site.
In 2017 the front section of the main building is being converted by IDM Properties and Interrobang into 66 luxury flats, with the addition of a new top floor to maximise residences.
In 1980 Elvis Costello recorded a song called "Hoover Factory". It includes a brief description of the building and its position in London, and appears on the album Get Happy!!.