Building D10 at Boots Factory Site

Building D10, at the Boots Factory Site, is a late 20th-century factory building of exceptional group value, constructed primarily of reinforced concrete with extensive curtain wall glazing. The building has a rectangular plan with cantilevered loading docks on each long side, originally designed to concentrate unloading and manufacturing on the ground floors, with products stored at higher levels for packaging and dispatch.

The building is four storeys high with a working basement beneath the south side. It features flexible, extendible partitioning that could be adapted as needed. The flat, multi-pitch concrete roof is punctuated with circular glass discs. Cantilevers are supported by whaleback beams, and characteristic features include deep, splayed cornices and eaves. The curtain walls utilize continuous metal-framed glazing, modernized in the 1990s. Five lift and stair enclosures are present on each side, with those to the south-east having hipped, glazed roofs. A central five-storey section at the west end houses lift towers and doors, while the north side incorporates metal and glazed concrete canopies.

Inside, multi-flight concrete cantilevered stairs extend from west-end lift towers. Four full-height, east-facing light wells form a central atrium, top-lit by glass disks within the concrete roof, and are accompanied by walkway galleries on each level. Three two-storey light wells are also present on the south side, similarly top-lit. The roof structure incorporates concrete purlins and steel lattice girders. Other interior features include a glass-domed roof at first-floor level, formerly housing the perfumery area, and metal frames that once supported metal shoots used to transport goods to lower floors – these shoots are now lost. Some areas have been converted for office and production use, requiring the installation of modern partitions.

External features include a concrete-slabs front terrace, with original entrance railings and two slender lamp stands with square, leaded shades, some slabs have been replaced. A rail track exists beneath the road surface on the south-west side, towards the building’s north-west corner; this track formerly entered the building and was used with a steam-powered train for product dispatch. The building was previously listed under a separate entry (1247646), which was removed from the List on 23/04/2015.