Berkley Burke Building (Formerley Goddards Polish Factory)

The Berkley Burke Building, formerly Goddard’s Polish Factory, is a factory and offices built in 1932 by Percy Herbert Grundy, Architect, of Leicester, for the Goddard’s Silver Plate Powder and Polish firm. It is a notable example of Art Deco commercial architecture.

The building is predominantly red brick, with some grey and burnt bricks laid in English bond, incorporating aluminium and glass curtain walling, concrete and stone dressings, and metal rainwater goods with decorative hoppers. The roof is not visible. It is two storeys high, with a basement, and is 13 bays wide to Nelson Street.

The east elevation has a central bay framed in brick with a curtain wall infill panel containing four elongated metal Crittall lights with casements. A blind horizontal panel between the floors mirrors the lower floor's glazing pattern. The upper sections of the piers are channelled, and a shallow, unadorned central pediment displays the date 1932 and a flagpole. Flanking the centre are four bays of curtain walling behind a projecting parapet. Each of these bays contains tripartite windows with intermediate glazing and a blind horizontal centre section elaborated with glazing bars and offset panels. The three north and south end bays also feature tripartite windows with intermediate glazing; the outer two bays of the upper floor are recessed, finished with an abstract finial, and include a plat band and sill bands. The inner windows feature an apron panel inscribed "J G & S" and an abstract feather pattern.

The south elevation contains a canted bay window with a recessed centre at ground floor; a square chimney with setback buttresses is located to the left. The north elevation is similar but the ground floor has been altered. The rear elevation follows an E-plan layout, with projecting centre and end bays, mostly rendered and with fenestration similar to the east front, although without curtain walling.

The interior retains no particularly noteworthy features.

The building demonstrates a good example of an Art Deco-style commercial building, utilising aluminium and glass curtain walling, by a significant local architect, and it forms a group with buildings at 55 and 57 London Road, also designed by Grundy.