Playing with history
Country Life UK|September 07, 2022
A post-Modern livery hall that is a striking home for an ancient company can teach us something about sensitive development in London.
John Martin Robinson
Playing with history

Founders' Hall, Cloth Fair, London EC1

The Worshipful Company of Founders

FOUNDERS’ HALL, situated in Cloth Fair in the Smithfield Conservation Area, is less than 40 years old, but already has some of the character of an established historic building. Its elevations make an intended foil to the ancient structures surrounding it. As well as being the headquarters of a medieval livery company, the building also contains income-producing flats and commercial offices.

The Founders decided to move here from their previous Victorian home in St Swithin’s Lane (near the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street) and acquired the site at the east end of the venerable Norman church of St Bartholomew the Great in 1983. The new building was completed in 1986, the date being recorded in a cast-brass foundation roundel inset into the floor of the hall staircase, in a ceremony led by the Lord Mayor of London. That plaque was cast by a member of the Founders’, a City livery company that, as do the Goldsmiths’ and Fishmongers’, still retains close working links with its original craft, including all types of metal founding, especially brass and bells.

The new livery hall was designed by the late Sam Lloyd of London architectural firm Green Lloyd and Adams. He was the grandson of the distinguished Edwardian architect Curtis Green (whose masterpiece is now the Wolseley Restaurant, Piccadilly). The firm flourished for three generations and the Founders’ Hall is its swansong, as well as an example of the City’s astonishing knack of manifesting unbroken antiquity in modern dress.

Denne historien er fra September 07, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 07, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA COUNTRY LIFE UKSe alt
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 mins  |
October 23, 2024