Former Hertz Rent A Car Building

This auction house and multi-storey horse, carriage, cycle and motor car repository was built in 1897 by J. Dawson of Gateshead for James Cooper of Cooper's Auction House. It is of steel-framed construction with red brick set in English bond, with dressings of yellow sandstone and rendered concrete. The hipped roof to the south-east and gabled roof to the north-west are covered in Welsh slate with decorated tiles to ridge and hip. There are three chimney stacks, and large skylights and ventilators pierce the roofs.

Plan and Layout

The building is irregular in shape, determined by the site. An oval-shaped horse run is placed centrally on the ground floor, with open, part-galleried floors above giving views to the roof. Public and service rooms are arranged around the periphery of the central ground floor space.

Exterior

Westgate Road Elevation: The principal elevation has three storeys across fifteen bays defined by piers alternating with recessed panels, with a denticulated cornice above. Dressings and mouldings are of yellow sandstone; the ground floor is mostly rendered. The façade contains three distinct sections.

At the north-west end, three bays contain offices, shops and showroom. The central bay contains the main entrance with shop fronts to either side. Above are five blocked windows—two to the outer bays and one in the slimmer central bay—all with cambered arches, keystones and mouldings. At second floor level, the outer bays have two sets of four arched window openings with keystones and hood moulds, fitted with hung sashes, the upper divided by glazing bars into a three-on-three pattern. The central bay has two cambered openings with keystones and sash windows. The piers extend above the second storey to form pedestals, within which are two gables and a linking parapet; each gable has a single moulded oculus. Projecting string courses mark the first and second floor levels.

At the south-east end, four bays form the service section with dressings faced in render. There are paired window openings with cambered arches and sill bands to three bays at ground and first floor, and three pairs of cambered window openings to the second floor, all with hung sashes divided vertically to form two panes per sash. The end bay is plain. The housing for the original carriage lift and a later vehicle lift rise above; the later example bears "Cooper's Motor Mart" in white glazed brick or tile.

The central section of eight bays has shop fronts to the ground floor and the original carriage entrance to the right. Recessed panels extend over the upper floors with large paired ventilation openings and decorative clay grilles at first floor level.

North-East Elevation: This elevation is plain, partially rendered and partially covered with 20th-century red brick. A small gabled two-storeyed annexe with attic over has a brick cornice above. The rear of the building is faced in glazed buff brick, with rows of evenly spaced windows piercing the ground and first floors and ventilation openings to the latter. Single windows appear on each of the three floors on the rear of the main building. A large cambered opening is to the right.

Interior

There is a small basement. Internal walls are mostly brick painted white. The floors are of late 19th-century scored asphalt, with that to the ground floor having concrete covering. The upper floors are supported on a framework of cast-iron stanchions and rolled steel joists. Ceilings are of painted tongued-and-grooved timber.

Ground Floor: The carriage and entrance passage, with a shop and general office to either side, opens into the central well containing the auction room with the horse run. The former stables have been converted into additional shops, and the original horse run wall has been pierced with numerous new openings. A horse ramp with wrought iron gate leads to the upper floors; it is of asphalt with timber tracks laid in channels and batons laid across at intervals. The projecting annexe to the rear was originally filled with stalls and loose boxes, now removed, but numerous tethering rings remain in place. Some cast-iron columns supporting steel beams with timber ceiling over are in place, along with gas light fittings.

First Floor: The central well has a gallery to the left. The position of former stalls is indicated by channelled drainage grooves; larger grooves confirm the former location of individual stalls and loose boxes. Numerous tethering rings and ventilation openings covered by cast-iron sliding grills survive. Some loose box fittings such as hay and straw storage are also visible. Two stables along the south-west wall have similar detail. A stepped door opens onto the gallery with wooden benches and cast-iron railings. Windows pierce the wall either side of the door, with a cornice of dentils above which continues around the central well at second floor level. The showroom and private office at the north-east end of the first floor have higher quality fittings including doors with moulded architraves, plaster cornices and an oriel window, now a cupboard. The ramp to the second floor is the same as that described above.

Second Floor: This was a display area for carriages, bicycles and early motor cars, with a viewing area around the central well to the auction room below. The barrier around the central well is of painted wooden boards with a rolled banister, triangulated middle and bottom stanchions, and similarly bevelled piers. The vehicle lift is situated at the south-east end with a plant room above accessed by a steel staircase and ladder. There are two original skylights of louvered timber with glass lights.

Roof Structure: The curved ridge is supported by asymmetrical braced and riveted steel trusses carried on limestone blocks set into the walls.

History

James Cooper originally set up as a horse trader in 1878 at the Crown and Thistle Inn in Groat Market, Newcastle upon Tyne. The business had grown by 1896, requiring the construction of large purpose-built premises to hold weekly auctions. The Westgate Road site was chosen and the architect was J. Dawson of Gateshead. His initial plans, dated March 1897, describe the new proposed building as a depot for "horses, carriages, cycles and auto-cars". After these were modified to provide extra stabling on the first floor, the new building was constructed and officially opened on 16th October 1897. At this time there was accommodation on the ground floor for 150 horses and 20 dogs, in addition to shops, offices, harness rooms and a caretaker's room, with a lift to the top floor for carriages. The first floor contained a "ladies' gallery" furnished with more comfortable seats, and the second floor was used mainly as a repository for carriages and a sales point for bicycles. The original plans indicate that this floor was also to be used for the storage of motor cars.

In 1925 the layout of the south-east end of the building was modified by the architects Percey L. Browne & Son of Newcastle, who later became renowned for large Art Deco projects across the north. Original plans of 1925 suggest quite substantial modifications were planned to both the interior and exterior of the building, but many of these were abandoned. Instead, a larger and more powerful lift was installed in the south-east section, presumably for the transportation of motor cars, and new shop fronts were inserted to the middle section of the exterior. The south-east entrance was also remodelled to provide a grand main entrance for the sale of motor cars. The increasing importance of motor cars to the business at this time is also indicated by the installation of a garage on the second floor and petrol tanks on the ground floor.

Cooper's moved out of the building in 1977, after which it was used by Hertz for vehicle storage. Some minor alterations to the building have occurred since 1928, including the removal of the stalls in 1954, the insertion of a ground floor turntable for cars in the 1950s, and the replacement of shop fittings with Hertz fittings (now removed) in the 1980s.

Significance

This building is of special architectural interest as a fine and virtually complete example of a purpose-built multi-storey repository for horses, carriages, cycles and early motor cars of 1897. A rare survival and apparently unparalleled nationally, it is of particular interest as a building which anticipates the coming age of motor transport. Recent archaeological evaluation trenches within the building revealed the presence of the remains of Hadrian's Wall, designated as a World Heritage Site.