Derwent House

Derwent House is a foundry and offices complex built between 1902 and 1912, extended between 1913 and 1916, further extended around 1921, and subsequently altered with mid-20th-century remodelling. The extensions of 1913 to 1916 were designed by architects Ewen Harper and James A Harper of Birmingham for Taylor and Challen Ltd, engineers. The building is constructed of red brick with terracotta, blue brick and painted concrete detailing, with flat and sheet-covered roofs. The complex extends the full length of a block with main office frontage to Mary Ann Street, foundry entrances to Water Street, and extensive development along Livery Street.

The Water Street frontage comprises two phases. The left section is the 1913 foundry front, featuring a symmetrical stepped brick facade of three bays defined by channelled brick piers. The tall centre piers carry diamond-shaped decoration at their caps. Recessed brick panels between the piers incorporate multi-pane metal window frames below plain heads. Above the wide, four-tier centre window is a terracotta panel bearing the raised lettering 'TAYLOR AND CHALLEN'. A shallow parapet with a brick dentil course tops the facade. To the right is a matching extension of 1913 to 1916 with an angled corner to Livery Street, connected by a low plain link between the stepped frontages.

The Livery Street frontage originally comprised eight bays with tall multi-pane paired windows set between banded piers, and was extended by 1921 along the full length of the block to return onto Mary Ann Street. The Mary Ann Street frontage is composed of four different elements. The three-bay left-hand end, of two and three storeys, has an angled corner with painted bands to window heads and a three-storey centre bay between banded pilasters, reflecting the detailing of the foundry frontages. Two-light windows with a centre pier occupy the upper floor, with six narrow windows below a deep parapet bearing a terracotta panel inscribed 'TAYLOR CHALLEN' in raised lettering. A two-bay mid-20th-century section occupies the next section, followed by the principal office range of 1902 to 1912. This comprises a giant four-bay arcade with tall tripartite windows to the ground floor beneath flat joggled terracotta heads. A recessed entrance sits in the left-hand bay. First-floor windows are set within semi-circular-headed rubbed brick arches with stepped keyblocks. Triple upper-floor windows occupy each bay above a linked gabled hood mould and below a terracotta lintel band, cornice and shallow parapet. A mid-20th-century flat-roofed extension sits above. The right-hand end is a functionally detailed three-bay addition of three storeys with multi-pane windows recessed between plain brick piers. The shallow parapet carries raised lettering reading 'DERWENT IRON FOUNDRY'.

The foundry interiors were designed as single open working areas with travelling cranes mounted on tracks running along the side wall heads. The interior was not fully inspected.

Taylor and Challen was founded by Joseph Taylor in 1852. The company produced metal-working machinery including presses for the metal trades, examples of which are still found in workshops and manufactories throughout the Jewellery Quarter. Over a 70-year period the company developed rapidly, mirroring the pattern of expansion within the jewellery trade. The design of the foundry and its extensions appears to reflect the influence of Peter Behrens' Kraftwerk Union Factory Hall in Berlin of 1909. This is an early 20th-century foundry built by a highly influential manufacturer of metal-working machines used throughout the Jewellery Quarter, designed with innovative contemporary architecture influenced by the work of the eminent 20th-century German architect and industrial designer Peter Behrens.