Standard Works

A large factory built in 1879-80, designed by Thomas F Williams, it occupies a corner site and was originally constructed as 15 separate industrial units, making it one of the best examples in the area. The complex modelling of the ground floor suggests an earlier design from around the 1860s or 1870s, with the upper floors subsequently altered between 1879 and 1880. Structurally, the building is a single entity, featuring load-bearing walls, post and iron beams in the basement, and wrought iron beams supporting unusually wide floor spans. This represents an early example of metal construction within the Jewellery Quarter.

The building has three-story elevations with closely spaced bays along both frontages, including a rounded corner. The ground floor features rusticated and vermiculated painted stonework with round arched doorways. These doorways are distinguished by boldly modelled heavy console keystones depicting swags, and each originally provided access to a separate unit within the “flatted” works. A deeply moulded cornice runs along the ground floor. The upper floors are constructed of painted brickwork, punctuated by narrow window bays grouped in bands of three, separated by full-height brick piers. Broader arched bays align with the doorways. The ground floor cornice and first floor sill band project forward, creating a high-relief effect on the piers. The ground floor windows have iron frames with panelled pilaster surrounds and consoles that rise to breaks in the cornice. The heads of the upper floor window panels are stepped out to meet the wall face, originally incorporating an eaves cornice, now capped with a plain finish.