Pendleton Cooperative Industrial Society Buildings

Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society Buildings, Broughton Road, Salford

Former Co-operative Society premises originally comprising shops, warehousing, assembly rooms and offices, now in use as a range of shops with stores over. The main building was opened in 1887, designed by F Smith, with an extension added in 1903 by W H Walsingham.

The buildings are constructed in brick with terracotta and stone dressings, and Welsh slate roofs. They occupy a corner site with three storeys and two principal elevations.

The main elevation faces north and consists of three storeys in four bays. A tower with an octagonal lantern and domed roof rises over the entrance bay, positioned to the right of centre. The entrance itself is a round-arched doorway with a segmental pedimented head. The facade is strongly articulated as separate bays, divided by pilasters above ground floor level and by rusticated piers at ground floor. The first-floor windows have segmentally-arched heads (flat-arched over the entrance), while the second floor features large mullioned and transomed windows. Each bay is topped with a pedimented gable.

The angled corner at Broughton Road emphasises pilasters sprung from corbels at ground floor level. A round-arched entrance with an enriched pedimented head is positioned here, with a bowed window to the first floor featuring a balustraded parapet with urn finials. A clock sits over the second storey, surmounted by a pedimented gable.

The long elevation to Broughton Road contains five principal bays, constructed in two phases but employing similar style and decoration throughout. The three right-hand bays form part of the original 1887 build. Like the entrance front, each bay is expressed beneath a stepped pedimented gable and divided by coupled pilasters above ground floor, with painted rusticated pilasters at ground floor. Shop fronts have been largely inserted while retaining the original rhythm and articulation of the facade. At first-floor level, each bay has paired windows with mullions and shallow segmentally-arched heads with fluted keystones.

An octagonal turret rises between the two left-hand bays, which form the 1903 addition. The gables are arranged symmetrically, each with a pedimented gable and pilasters to the second storey. The fenestration varies, with a wide three-light window flanked by narrower windows, all featuring segmentally-arched heads and wrought-iron balconettes in the left-hand gable. A tiered central window to the second floor has stone mullions and a central round-arched light with transom over, flanked by pilasters that rise either side of a pedimented head. The right-hand gable has paired segmental windows and mullioned and transomed windows at second floor level.

A central octagonal turret springs from a corbel over ground floor and terminates in a ribbed domed cap with a fleche.

The rear elevation to Sovereign Street rises five storeys and features loading bays to the right with regular fenestration.

The building was originally designed to incorporate offices, a board room and assembly room, in addition to stores and shops. The 1903 extension added committee rooms, offices, a hall, shops and show rooms.