C20 supports Cheviot House in listing

04/03/2016

Local Campaigners have recently brought the plight of Cheviot House to the attention of the Twentieth Century Society. Cheviot House is a striking example of a smart and commercial inter-war architecture, designed by GG Winbourne in 1937. Winbourne is well known for his group of listed modern houses in Hampstead, but Cheviot House is the only surviving example of his industrial designs.

Built originally for cloth merchants Kornberg & Segal Ltd, the six upper floors were let out as flatted factories to high-class tailoring firms prior to the buildings conversion to council offices in the 1950s.

It is now in the ownership of Tower Hamlets council and currently stands vacant, though the decision has recently been made to sell off the building as part of a finance initiative. As such, it is now in an extremely vulnerable position.

Cheviot House is located in a prominent corner position on Commercial Road, Whitechapel. The

steel framed building has façades which are articulated by fenestration and which curve to meet a

striking glazed corner element. Although there are some alterations, we consider it to be one of the

best remaining examples of a flatted factory in its area and time period.

The Society has supported a listing application to Historic England made by local campaigners the

East End Waterway Group, and has also supported their request for local listing as we strongly

believe the building has the potential to be sympathetically developed. The loss of Cheviot House

would be a huge blow to the character of the local area and its history, and so we remain hopeful

that both Historic England and Tower Hamlets will recognise its architectural and historical significance.