Amex House, popularly nicknamed The Wedding Cake, was the former European headquarters of American Express, a multinational financial services company. Its site is located in the Carlton Hill area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The nine-floor building, designed by British architecture firm Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners, was commissioned by the company in 1977 to consolidate their operations in Brighton, which had been spread over several sites. The white and blue structure, a landmark on the city skyline, received both praise and criticism for its distinctive style.
Demolition work began in April 2016 after the completion of a new headquarters building on land owned by American Express adjacent to the site.[2] In October 2017 demolition was completed and the site was sold to First Base and Patron Capital, a pan-European institutional investor focused on property backed investments who proposed "a vibrant new mixed-use development including new homes, workspace and importantly, new jobs to revive this area of Brighton".[3]
History
The building being demolished in 2017
Brighton grew rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, prompted by its development into a fashionable seaside resort. New residential areas were developed around the core of the old fishing village of Brighthelmston. Rich visitors and residents were housed in set-piece Regency squares and terraces on the seafront, but the large number of poor people attracted to the town from across Sussex and beyond by the prospect of work lived in the smaller terraced streets of new suburbs on the surrounding hillsides.[4] One of these—and the most poverty-stricken and densely populated—was Carlton Hill, an area east of Old Steine and the Royal Pavilion and separated from the higher-class seafront development by Edward Street.[5][6] This road, leading east towards Kemp Town and Black Rock, was a major shopping area in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the area declined after World War II and much of the northern side was cleared between the 1950s and the 1970s. Road widening took up some of the released land, but large areas were still available for redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s.[6]
American Express had a longstanding presence in Brighton and elsewhere in Sussex, and in 1968 they moved their Mechanical Accounting division on to one site—an office building (previously owned by another company) on Edward Street.[7] As the firm's European operations grew, it sought a larger, purpose-built office in which to base its European headquarters. Land between the north side of Edward Street and Carlton Hill's main road (also called Carlton Hill) was available, and American Express acquired it and proposed the construction of a new office block as part of a major redevelopment scheme for the area.[8] British architects Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners[9] were commissioned in early 1977 to design the building. It opened on 15 September 1977,[7] at a cost of between £10 million[7] and £15 million,[10] and was the first structure in England to use glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) panels.[11] The office was the base for the corporation's European customer service and card accounting operations.[7] The layered effect of the series of white horizontal lines of GRP panels[12] prompted the popular local nickname "The Wedding Cake".[7][13][14]
By 2010, American Express was the largest private-sector employer in the city of Brighton and Hove: about 3,000 people worked in the 300,000-square-foot (28,000m2) Amex House building. The company was estimated to generate £300 million per year to the city's economy—about 7% of its total value.[7] In the early 21st century, the company considered moving its operations away from Brighton; but in September 2008 it announced plans for a new headquarters building on land behind Amex House, which would eventually replace the 1970s building. The company bought the freehold of the land from Brighton and Hove City Council in May 2009; various conditions were attached, such as a requirement for American Express to stay in Brighton for the long term.[7]Planning permission for the new development was granted on 4 November 2009,[15] with further conditions attached—in particular, American Express would have to give the neighbouring Carlton Hill Primary School £300,000 to compensate for the negative effect the new building would have on its playground, which would be overlooked.[7] EPR Architects Ltd. were awarded the design contract,[16] and the Sir Robert McAlpine company built the new office.[17]
Site clearance work for the new office, which was built on Amex House's car park,[7] began in January 2010.[18] The site is about 375,000 square feet (34,800m2), and the building has about 200,000 square feet (19,000m2) of office space. There is an onsite gymnasium,[18] parking for more than 100 cars and better vehicular access from the street.[7] The sloping site means that the building has nine storeys on one side but only five on the opposite side, and there is basement space in addition.[7][13] External work was completed in September 2012.[2] It was stated in that year that demolition of the now redundant Amex House was expected to happen by 2016.[7] Work to remove internal fittings began in late April 2016, and at the same time hoardings were erected around the exterior in preparation for demolition over the summer of 2016. The demolition concluded one year after that. The demolition contractors were Syd Bishop & Sons Ltd.[19]
The future of the old Amex House site had not been confirmed at the time demolition work started, nor a year later in summer 2017 when the work was largely complete. The Brighton and Hove City Plan proposes 220,000 square feet (20,000m2) of offices, restaurants, green spaces and some housing, with no building to exceed seven storeys in height. The name "Edward Street Quarter" has been given to the site.[2]
Architecture
The Modernist Amex House was a local landmark,[20] "dominat[ing] the sweep of Carlton Hill"[11] and even (to one architectural historian) evoking Thunderbirds.[8] Its clean lines of contrasting blue-tinted glass and white GRP gave the building an "emphatic horizontality" which was made less harsh by the substantial chamfering of each corner and the set-back top storey.[11][12] Although the building was large and visually dominant, it was not merely another tower block[11] in an area which was extensively redeveloped with such buildings in the 1960s.[21] It was instead described as "a much more successful addition to Edward Street than its contemporary neighbours", which include the law courts and Brighton's main police station,[11] and "one of the most original of Brighton's modern buildings".[10] Local conservation group The Regency Society criticised its demolition, describing it as "arguably Brighton's best postwar building ... [offering] a splash of style in Edward Street's jumble of mediocrity."[14] Nevertheless, the building was also described as a "major intrusion" on the adjacent Carlton Hill conservation area,[20] "significantly affect[ing] its setting".[22]
Antram, Nicholas; Morrice, Richard (2008). Brighton and Hove. Pevsner Architectural Guides. London: Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-12661-7.
Brighton Polytechnic. School of Architecture and Interior Design (1987). A Guide to the Buildings of Brighton. Macclesfield: McMillan Martin. ISBN1-869865-03-0.
Collis, Rose (2010). The New Encyclopaedia of Brighton. (based on the original by Tim Carder) (1sted.). Brighton: Brighton & Hove Libraries. ISBN978-0-9564664-0-2.
Elleray, D. Robert (1987). Brighton: a Pictorial History. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN0-85033-627-9.
Fines, Ken (2002). A History of Brighton & Hove. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN1-86077-231-5.
Gollins, Melvin, Ward Partnership (1974). Architecture of the Gollins, Melvin, Ward Partnership. Lund Humphries Publishers. ISBN0-85331-368-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
The Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital is a children's hospital located within the grounds of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton on the south coast of England. It provides outpatient services, inpatient facilities, intensive care and a 24-hour emergency care service for children referred by GPs and other specialists. It is managed by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
There are 72 Grade II* listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
As of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
As of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
Brighton and Hove, a city on the English Channel coast in southeast England, has a large and diverse stock of buildings "unrivalled architecturally" among the country's seaside resorts. The urban area, designated a city in 2000, is made up of the formerly separate towns of Brighton and Hove, nearby villages such as Portslade, Patcham and Rottingdean, and 20th-century estates such as Moulsecoomb and Mile Oak. The conurbation was first united in 1997 as a unitary authority and has a population of about 253,000. About half of the 20,430-acre (8,270 ha) geographical area is classed as built up.
Thomas Lainson, FRIBA was a British architect. He is best known for his work in the East Sussex coastal towns of Brighton and Hove, where several of his eclectic range of residential, commercial and religious buildings have been awarded listed status by English Heritage. Working alone or in partnership with two sons as Lainson & Sons, he designed buildings in a wide range of styles, from Neo-Byzantine to High Victorian Gothic; his work is described as having a "solid style, typical of the time".
The Pelham Institute is a former working men's club and multipurpose social venue in the Kemptown area of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1877 by prolific local architect Thomas Lainson on behalf of the Vicar of Brighton, the multicoloured brick and tile High Victorian Gothic building catered for the social, educational and spiritual needs of the large working-class population in the east of Brighton. After its closure it hosted a judo club, but is now in residential use as flats owned by a housing association. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Carlton Hill is an inner-city area of Brighton, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. First developed in the early and mid-19th century on steeply sloping farmland east of central Brighton, it grew rapidly as the town became a fashionable, high-class destination. Carlton Hill's population was always poor, though, and by the early 20th century the area was Brighton's worst slum: overcrowding, crime and disease were rife. Extensive slum clearance in the mid-20th century introduced high-density tower blocks, but some old buildings remain: in 2008, Brighton and Hove City Council designated part of Carlton Hill as the city's 34th conservation area. The area now has housing of various styles and ages, large offices and small-scale industry; there are also churches, a school and some open space.
Round Hill is an inner suburban area of Brighton, part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove in England. The area contains a mix of privately owned and privately rented terraced housing, much of which has been converted for multiple occupancies, and small-scale commercial development. It was developed mostly in the late 19th century on an area of high land overlooking central Brighton and with good views in all directions, the area became a desirable middle-class suburb—particularly the large terraced houses of Roundhill Crescent and Richmond Road, and the exclusive Park Crescent—and within a few decades the whole of the hill had been built up with smaller terraces and some large villas.
Roundhill Crescent is a late-19th-century housing development in Round Hill, an inner suburb of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Partly developed in the 1860s with large terraced houses on a steeply sloping open hillside, the crescent—which "curves and changes height dramatically along its length"—was finished two decades later and now forms the centrepiece of the Round Hill conservation area. Smaller houses completed the composition in the 1880s, and England's first hospital for the treatment of mental illness was founded in the crescent in 1905. The five original sets of houses from the 1860s have been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for their architectural and historical importance, and the crescent occupies a prominent place on Brighton's skyline.
Montpelier is an inner suburban area of Brighton, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. Developed together with the adjacent Clifton Hill area in the mid-19th century, it forms a high-class, architecturally cohesive residential district with "an exceptionally complete character". Stucco-clad terraced housing and villas predominate, but two of the city's most significant Victorian churches and a landmark hospital building are also in the area, which lies immediately northwest of Brighton city centre and spreads as far as the ancient parish boundary with Hove.
Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclectic range of buildings in the growing town of Brighton and its neighbour Hove. Their work encompassed new residential, commercial, industrial and civic buildings, shopping arcades, churches, schools, cinemas and pubs, and alterations to hotels and other buildings. Later reconstituted as Clayton, Black & Daviel, the company designed some churches in the postwar period.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist is a church serving members of the Church of Christ, Scientist denomination in the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The present building, originally a "notable" private house in Brighton's exclusive Montpelier suburb, was extended and converted into a church by prolific local architecture firm Clayton & Black in 1921.
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The building at 155–158 North Street in Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, was built between 1921 and 1923 as a branch of National Provincial Bank. The King Louis-style bank was built on the site of several shops. The properties were acquired by the National Provincial Bank during 1916–20. The Brighton Gazette had occupied 155a North Street since 1910, when its long-time home at number 150 was converted into the Cinema de Luxe. Published by William James Towner, the paper’s full title was the Brighton Gazette, Hove Post and Sussex Telegraph. In 2011 it became J D Wetherspoon's second pub in central Brighton. One of many buildings by the prolific local architecture firm of Clayton & Black, whose work in various styles can be found across the city, it forms an important component of the range of banks, offices and commercial buildings on North Street—a significant commercial thoroughfare since the 18th century. In particular, the "good attention to detail" shown throughout the building's Louis XIV-style façade has been praised. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
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