India House Whitworth Street Manchester

The first substantial commission received by Harry S Fairhurst, the design for which was completed in 1905. Seven-storey building with vigorous Baroque detailing. Symmetrical elevation with two entrance bays capped by ornate gables. Composition combined the basement and first two storeys into a rusticated base, the main order comprised the next four storeys, while above the cornice was a further storey with more decorative detailing.

Internal steel framework encased in concrete. Elevation to Whitworth Street executed in red brick and terra cotta above a base of Aberdeen Correnie granite. Rear elevation lacked any historical dress comprising large windows set into the pattern of the steel frame, functional and modern looking. At this period a height limit of 108 feet was imposed by fire and street lighting regulations. India House stands 95 feet to the eaves with the two towers rising to 120 feet. Fairhurst also designed a system of internal demountable partitions to allow re-arrangement of the internal offices.

The building still exhibits a contrast between the elaborate public facade and the simple functional treatment of the side and rear elevations where there has been no attempt to disguise the framed construction To maximise natural lighting and to reduce costs, these elevations are a simple insertion of large metal windows into the grid pattern of the frame. The distinction between the public face and the unseen working areas was one which twentieth century architects were soon to reject. India House thus represents the final stage of nineteenth century warehouse design.

The site is hard by the River Medlock, and this has allowed the architect, instead of limiting the area of the basement to that of the rooms above, to extend it under the street running at the rear right to the edge of the river, and thus to secure additional light from the windows in the newly-built high wall which here hems the river in ... This extension of the basement has also permitted of another improvement of some consequence in view of the annoyance and loss of time caused by the congestion of traffic in the narrow business thoroughfare of the city. At each end of the basement there is a bale-hole, or well, with swinging cranes on either side, placed so far from the building itself that three or four lurries may be loaded at a time without interfering with the vehicular traffic of the street, or with the unloading into or loading from the upper floors. [British Architect. Quoted in Lloyds Packing Warehouse publicity brochure of mid 1940s]

A NEW PACKING HOUSE, GREAT MANCHESTER TRADE BUILDING - The new packing warehouse of the Lloyd’s Packing Company, called India House, in Whitworth Street, Manchester, is now so far completed that part of it has this week been occupied. It adds one more conspicuous feature to a street which is undergoing perhaps the biggest change for the better from an architectural point of view, of any thoroughfare in the city.  It is a worthy neighbour not only to the Jones’s packing warehouse next to it – which enjoys the distinction of being the tallest trade building in the city – but even to the Municipal School of Technology; and so closely have the increasing exacting requirements of merchants been studied that in many respects it marks a new departure in Manchester business premises. The building is an imposing example, treated in a simple and dignified manner, of the modern Renaissance style of architecture. It is rectangular in shape, and has a frontage of 204 feet by 78 feet. The eaves are 95 feet above the street level, while the towers rise to a height of 120 feet. The lower elevations are built in Aberdeen Correnie granite, with terra cotta and brick above, and in spite of the great consideration given to lighting, the building conveys a predominant impression of breadth and solidity. Even in the rear the appearance is bright, owing to the still greater space devoted to glass and to the use of white glazed bricks instead of the common red.

Besides the basement and the ground floor, the building has six upper floors. The site is hard by the River Medlock, and this has allowed the architect to carry out a useful little plan. Instead of limiting the area of the basement to that of the rooms above, he has been able to extend it under the street running at the rear right to the edge of the river, and thus to secure additional light from the windows in the newly erected high wall which here hems the river in, but which, in accordance with the wishes of the Rivers Department of the Corporation, has been set back to effect an improvement by widening the river bed by about four feet. This extension of the basement has also permitted of another improvement of some consequence in view of the annoyance and loss of time caused by the congestion of traffic in the narrow business thoroughfares of the city. At each end of the basement there is a bale hole, or well, with swinging cranes on either side, placed so far from the building itself that three or four lurries may be loaded at a time without interfering in the slightest with the vehicular traffic of the street, or with the unloading into or loading from the upper floors. All the loading stations, too, are amply covered with glass roofs, so as to protect goods and workers alike in rainy weather.

There is probably not a better lighted commercial building in the city, for the great quantities of glass in the screens which divide the offices from the warerooms allows light to enter into almost every part from both front and rear. The basement is unique, inasmuch as, in spite of its great extent, it is uncut up. The only obstructions are the hoists which feed it from above and the pillars, which being of solid steel, take up much less room than the ordinary cast iron ones, and stand so far apart from one another that neither storage nor movement is appreciably affected. All the offices, as well as the ware-rooms, are lofty and a noteworthy point is that the Kauri-pine dividing screens are constructed in sections and jointed in such a manner that they can be re-arranged at any time, with a minimum of trouble and expense, to serve the needs of the shipper tenants. 

The two main entrances are provided with granite steps and faience walls, with a circular vaulted ceiling; the halls are fitted up with mahogany columns and pilasters; and all the doors on the economically short landings are of mahogany. Another noteworthy point is that its scheme of fire resistance has been so carefully planned that it is one of the lowest insurance-rated packing warehouses in the city. It hs been designed by Mr Harry S Fairhurst ARIBA of this city and Blackburn. This is the tenth packing-house now possessed by the Lloyds Company in Manchester. In addition, the Company has a house in Bradford and one in Blackburn, caseworks in Castlefield, Manchester, and a packing material works in West Gorton, and these details give some indication of what Lancashire does in this line of business. [Manchester Guardian 22 March 1907 page 10]

Reference        Manchester Guardian 22 March 1907 page 10
Reference        Jones Industrial Architecture
Reference        British Architect 27 March 1907
RIBA Drawings: RAN/10/K51 Foundation Plan (1905) RAN/10/K54 Elevation to Whitworth Street (1905) RAN/10/K56 Section (1905) RAN/10/K59 Rear Elevation (1905)