The Observer Building [1] is a building on Cambridge Road, Hastings, England. It was originally occupied by the print works and editorial offices of the Hastings & St. Leonards Observer newspaper. Between 1924 and 1984 it housed 500 employees. [2] [3] The building later became a significant local landmark, and was described as "one of the most imposing [buildings] in Hastings" by the BBC News. [4]
Designed by architect Henry Ward, the building has a distinctive terracotta-glazed façade produced by the brick company Ibstock Hathernware with the original owner's name incorporated into the moulding. It features concrete mezzanine flooring.
Prior to construction, the site was occupied by terraced buildings similar to those further down the hill towards the town centre. [5]
The printing presses were located on the lower floors behind the building, and extended into the sandstone caves behind Claremont. Similar to the adjacent Brassey Institute, portions of the building which contain these caves date back as far as 1859.
When the Observer's offices moved to a new location on the outskirts of Hastings, the building fell into disrepair for a number of years.[ quantify ] A music rehearsal and recording studio did operate from the basement of the building around 1991, [6] [7] but it stayed otherwise unoccupied for around 34 years. [8]
There were plans to demolish the building in 2006, however they were not implemented due to several local residents' objections. [9] A developer purchased the building in 2014 [10] but failed to get his plans approved by the local council, [11] resulting in the building being left vacant again. Further plans were proposed to turn the building into accommodation for students attending the local campus of Brighton University in 2016, but these plans also did not materialize as the University pulled out of Hastings. [12]
In 2017, the Hastings Borough Council approved plans for an artistry studio on the lower ground floor, a residents’ gym on the mezzanine level, a restaurant and shop, plus 50 private flats and a private roof terrace. These plans did not come to fruition, and after some essential work had been carried out on the internal structure the building was put back up for sale for £1.5 million. [2]
White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures, who occupy the building next to the Observer Building, purchased the Observer Building for £1.15 million in late 2018 under the leadership of Jess Steele. The purchase included a ten-year plan to bring the building back into use [2] [13] which included 16 capped rent flats for those struggling to find housing, a floor of co-working studios and offices, 3 floors occupied by leisure businesses, activities and events, and a roof garden with a glasshouse and bar/common room. [8]
These current plans are being carried out using funding provided by numerous local groups as well as grants from organizations such as Big Issue Invest, Castlestone Investments, Hastings Borough Council, and the East Sussex County Council.
After minor renovations, the lower floors of the building are being utilised for various local events, [14] such as pop up cinemas, art exhibitions, [15] [16] and theatre. [17]
Hastings is a seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, 24 mi (39 km) east to the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. It later became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. In the 19th century, it was a popular seaside resort, as the railway allowed tourists and visitors to reach the town. Today, Hastings is a fishing port with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet. It has an estimated population of 92,855 as of 2018.
The Woolworth Building is an early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert and located at 233 Broadway in Manhattan, New York City. It was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930, with a height of 792 feet (241 m). More than a century after its construction, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States.
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St Leonards-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a hotel, an archery, assembly rooms and a church. Today's St Leonards has extended well beyond that original design, although the original town still exists within it.
The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, and is designed in an Art Deco style, faced with limestone, granite, and several types of marble. The Fisher family financed the building with proceeds from the sale of Fisher Body to General Motors. It was designed to house office and retail space.
Henry Ward ARIBA was a British architect who designed many large public buildings in and around Hastings, East Sussex, some of which are listed buildings.
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The McLean County Courthouse and Square is located in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places and encompasses the old McLean County Courthouse and the courthouse-facing sides of three downtown blocks. All 4 floors of the building are now occupied by the McLean County Museum of History for exhibits, collections storage, and offices. The historic buildings at the other side of the square were destroyed by fire in the 1980s. The Square is bordered by four Bloomington streets: Main Street, Center Street, Jefferson Street and Washington Street. The site was home to three previous courthouses before the current one was completed in 1903. The first courthouse at the site was built in 1831, and the second in 1836. The third was built in 1868, but suffered major damage from fire on June 19, 1900.
The City of Rockingham is a local government area in the far southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth.
Thaw Hall is a historic academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh that is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District and has been named a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. The five story building of stone, brick, and terra cotta was completed in 1910 in the Neoclassical Beaux-Arts style by architect Henry Hornbostel and today serves as space for a variety of academic classrooms, labs, offices, and centers. It is located between, and connected to, the university's Old Engineering Hall and Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC) along O'Hara Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Silverhill is a suburb and local government ward of Hastings, East Sussex, England. It has a central location within the town, where the A21 meets the B2159 road.
The American Bank Note Company Building is a five-story building at 70 Broad Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by architects Kirby, Petit & Green in the neo-classical style, and contains almost 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) of space, with offices and residences on the upper floors. The exterior consists of a main facade on Broad Street with two columns, as well as side facades with pilasters on Beaver and Marketfield Streets.
26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, 520-foot-tall (160 m) structure was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Thomas Hastings of Carrère and Hastings, in conjunction with Shreve, Lamb & Blake.
The Pershing Square Building, also known as 125 Park Avenue or 100 East 42nd Street, is a 25-story office building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the eastern side of Park Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets, across from Grand Central Terminal to the north and adjacent to 110 East 42nd Street to the east.
John Howell & Son, known as John Howell, was the leading building and engineering company in Hastings, Sussex in the 1860s. Its founder, John Howell Senior (ca.1825−1893) engineered churches and other public buildings in the area to the designs of innovative architects, including Holy Trinity Church in 1860 to the design of Samuel Sanders Teulon, and St Johns Church, Hollington in 1865−1868 for Edward Alexander Wyon. John Howell Junior (1851−1903) constructed the old Gothic Revival Hastings Grammar School building to the design of Jeffery and Skiller in 1883. Howell Senior was a campaigner on behalf of the Liberal Party and held a prominent political position in the town from the 1860s to the 1880s. He came to Hastings as a fatherless boy, but was the Mayor of Hastings by 1878.
425 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City being redeveloped by L&L Holding and GreenOak Real Estate, with a design by architectural firm Foster + Partners. Work on the new structure began in 2016, and is expected to be completed in 2021.
Robertson Street Congregational Church is a former United Reformed church in the centre of Hastings, a seaside town and borough in East Sussex, England. Built in 1885 on the site of an earlier church which had been constructed in 1857, it was designed by Henry Ward (1854–1927), who was responsible for many of the key buildings in the town of Hastings, not least the Town Hall. The building, a "large urban ... church with richly detailed exteriors and interiors", is situated between Robertson Street and Cambridge Road and has a split-level arrangement with part of the gallery occupying a flying freehold over the alleyway adjacent to the entrance on Robertson Street. The church is listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
The America Ground is the name of an approximately triangular area bordered by Robertson Street, Carlisle Parade, Harold Place and Claremont in Hastings, East Sussex, England. In the early 19th century, this was considered to be outside the boundaries of the town; the western boundary being marked by the Priory Bridge situated immediately to the east of this area.
360 Newbury Street is a nine-story commercial and residential building located at the intersection of Newbury Street and Massachusetts Avenue in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by Arthur Bowditch, it was constructed in 1919 and first served as the headquarters of the Boston Elevated Railway. The eight-story building was later used as a warehouse and office space, and housed Tower Records from 1987 to 2001. An additional story was added in the late 1980s during a Frank Gehry-designed renovation; another was created from a mezzanine during a 2005 renovation. The lower three floors house retail space and an entrance to Hynes Convention Center station; the upper six floors contain private condominiums.