Newcastle House And Attached Boundary Wall

Newcastle House, formerly known as Vyella House, is a factory and office building located on Castle Boulevard in Nottingham. It was constructed between 1931 and 1933 by architect FA Broadhead for William Hollins & Co, who manufactured Vyella fabric. The structural engineering was provided by the Indented Bar and Concrete Engineering Co. Ltd. of Westminster. A clock was added around 1960, and the building underwent conversion and alterations, including renewed cladding, around 1985.

This Art Deco style building has a rectangular plan based on a 16-foot by 20-foot grid and consists of four storeys plus a basement. It features a reinforced concrete structure with steel frame curtain walling, reconstituted stone cladding, and a flat roof behind a parapet. The concrete floor and roof slabs are supported by round mushroom columns. The cantilevered outer slabs hold continuous curtain walling on concrete spandrels.

The entrance front is marked by a central feature of ten narrow bays, defined by slender vertical stone fins that extend from the ground floor to the top of the second floor. In the centre, there is a massive stone frame, two storeys high, that encloses the main doorway, which has a moulded doorcase and cornice, panelled folding doors, and narrow side lights. Above the door are four narrow lights with window guards, and a square bracket clock is positioned above that. The entrance is accessed by double lateral steps, flanked by basement entrances and linked to the boundary wall, which extends across the front for approximately 60 meters and has a flat coping.

Inside, the building retains much of its original character, including a boardroom with full-height veneered wooden panelling, coved floor and ceiling, and wood-cased mushroom columns. There are veneered panelled doors and etched glass sliding windows featuring Vyella trademarks. An adjoining meeting room has a simpler decorative scheme with similar windows. The interior also includes concrete winder stairs with a chromed tube handrail, showcasing an early use of concrete and mushroom columns in factory architecture.