Sunwin House Department Store, Sunwin House

Sunwin House Department Store (also known as The Co-operative Emporium and Godwin Street Department Store) was designed by W A Johnson and J W Cropper in 1935-6 for the City of Bradford Co-operative Society. It is a four-storey building with two basement storeys constructed on a sloping site using steel frame construction with concrete-cased stanchions and girders, brick walls faced with York stone, and asphalted reinforced concrete roofs insulated with pumice concrete. The sloping ground allows ground floor access at the front, with light and access to both basement and sub-basement at the rear.

The main elevation on Sunbridge Road features four storeys of alternating horizontal continuous glazed bands and stone facings, with large picture windows at ground floor level, 2 over 1 metal-framed lights on the first floor, and narrowly banded metal frames above. The elevation is punctuated by two semi-circular turrets, one at the left end and one halfway along the frontage, each topped by low square towers set back from the facade. Main entrances are located beneath each turret. The fenestration uses steel-framed Crittall style windows throughout, with a small number of replacement plastic frames at the rear on the fourth floor.

The right return features continuous glazed bands broken by a projecting bay containing a staircase window of three triangular projecting elements forming a vertical sawtooth shape from first to fourth floor height. To its right is a set of windows with an entrance on the ground floor. The left return mirrors the front elevation and ends in a projecting bay with a full-height metal-framed staircase window above ground floor level. Beyond this is a later three-storey extension in similar materials but without the metal windows. A suspended green glass canopy, stepped to follow changes in ground level, covers the ground floor and dates from the same period as the extension. The rear elevation features similar fenestration with strong horizontal lines in the intervening stonework and a loading bay to the right.

The interior was planned on the open-store principle. The sub-basement originally contained loading bays and storage. The basement level, originally stock rooms, now functions as shop floor. The top floor originally housed a restaurant and offices and now contains offices and storage. The intermediate floors remain as open shop space. The main staircase, positioned to the right of the right-hand turret, is constructed in York stone with a continuous brass handrail in Art Deco style, retaining curved panelled landings and some original glazed doors to shop floors no longer in public use. Public lifts are located at either end of the shop with original stairs wrapped around them; those to the right feature a "concertina" staircase window, now blocked off but retaining all original elements. Two original service lifts and a service staircase are positioned to the rear. Central escalators serve all floors.

W A Johnson worked for the Cooperative Wholesale Society from 1899 until 1950 and was heavily influenced by German architect Erich Mendelsohn after 1930, embracing the International Modernist style. Johnson travelled widely in Germany and Holland, and Mendelsohn's Sckoken store in Stuttgart (1928) is documented as a particular inspiration for the Bradford Co-op. Johnson designed other listed buildings including the Dantzic Building and the CWS building in Manchester.

This building is of special architectural interest as an early and influential example of the open-store principle, where lifts and stairs are tucked around the edges of the shopping area. It also featured the first escalators to be installed in any Co-operative Society store. Its unaltered appearance both externally and internally is extremely rare.