Broadgate House

Broadgate House

Office building developed from a 1941 masterplan and built between 1949 and 1953 by Coventry City Architect's Department under Chief Architect Donald EE Gibson, with Frank Moate as assistant in charge, succeeding R Ash and B Bunch.

The building employs reinforced concrete construction, a response to post-war steel shortages, arranged on a structural grid of 6.3 by 7.2 metres. The floor forms a bridge over Hertford Street, suspended by steel hangers from the walls of the offices occupying the two floors above. These office walls function as deep beams, with window placement designed to allow reinforcement to pass between them, enabling the large windows to the Broadgate frontage. The brick facing uses 'Blockley City blend', while ground-floor columns are faced with Warwickshire blue limestone from Edgehill. The reinforced concrete vertical frame is faced with Hornton stone and green Westmorland slate, with Italian Travertine between the windows and on the former bridge, combining colour with durability.

The building has an L-shaped plan around the south-west corner of Broadgate. The south range comprises the former bridge over Hertford Street (infilled around 1970) and a clock tower at the east end. The north end of the west range forms one side of the entrance to the Upper Precinct.

The west range rises five principal storeys with a sixth set back from the face. It comprises five bays to the left with strip windows between the structural grid and a three-bay projecting end block to the right. This brick-clad end block has 'hole-in-wall' windows with a strip window at first-floor level on the return north elevation. Ground-floor shop accommodation and office entrance are set back behind an arcade, whose roof provides a terrace for the first floor of the left side, finished with a steel balustrade. The columns are octagonal in section to the left and square to the right beneath the end block. The last column bears an inscription commemorating the opening of Broadgate in 1949 and carvings by John Skelton. The rear elevation overlooks the Upper Precinct.

The south range comprises five principal storeys with a flat roof and curved copper roof to plant. A full-height clock tower at the left (east) features projecting brick mouldings in stone surrounds and a clock with circular discs instead of numbers over two openings painted yellow. The lower opening displays the City crest with blue patterning between the doors, which both open on the hour to reveal Lady Godiva on her horse and, above, Peeping Tom, referencing the legend associated with the city. Below this is a small projecting kiosk on a tiled plinth with a curved shop front. To the left side hangs the old Market Hall bell beneath a copper canopy, behind which is a cranked linking block to the 1930 NatWest Bank. The left part of this block has narrow 'hole-in-wall' windows; the right part mirrors the bank's fenestration. To the right of the clock tower, the former bridge over Hertford Street comprises eight bays with the top two storeys clad in travertine featuring large, regularly spaced 'hole-in-wall' windows within black stone frames. Beneath this the former restaurant is set back with a terrace finished with a steel balustrade. The infill below with glazed curtain walling is not of special interest. A one-bay flanking block occupies the right side.

The rear elevation of the south block mirrors the front with a central ten-bay bridge, again featuring 'hole-in-wall' windows and travertine cladding, with brick-clad flanking blocks at either side. A series of five large windows, those at the ends being glass brick, sits within a deep continuous frame. Between the windows are four Doulting stone reliefs by Trevor Tennant depicting 'the people of Coventry'. The windows, formerly Crittal-style, have been replaced with uPVC but retain their form and arrangement of panes.

Internally, the upper floors of the west range retain some joinery, built-in cupboards and partitioning. Lower floor offices, particularly in the south range, have been opened out. Circulation routes remain with offices on each floor either side of spinal corridors.

References to the city's history are embedded throughout the building: a mosaic panel in the entrance beneath the clock tower, depicting the 16th-century Coventry Martyrs, designed by Hugh Hosking and executed by Rene Antonietti of Geneva; the Godiva and Peeping Tom figures and mechanism in the clock tower, designed by Trevor Tennant and mechanised by members of the Technical College, now the University of Coventry; the clock and bell, both from the old Market Hall Clock Tower, preserved after the Blitz of November 1940. Trevor Tennant also carved the four figures on the rear elevation of the south block, while lettering and carvings on the columns of the west block were executed by John Skelton.