Piano Building Warehouse And Canal Tow Path Bridge To South West Brintons Carpet Works

The Piano Building is a wool warehouse located at the Brintons Carpet Works in Kidderminster, built in 1867 for the carpet manufacturers Brintons. The structure is made of red brick in English bond and features a slate multi-span roof that is hidden behind a parapet. The building has a unique plan that resembles the shape of a grand piano, with a rounded narrow end facing the canal to the west, a broad end to the east, and a concave curved north side. It stands four storeys tall and includes a dock in the basement, providing access to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal through an earlier tunnel under the tow-path.

The exterior has a 17-bay south elevation with blind windows featuring segmental arches, while the 18-bay curved north elevation has segmental arch windows and small openings, some of which are blind, on the ground floor leading to the dock. The rounded corner on the right leads to the narrow west end facing the canal, where a brick round-arched tunnel connects to the waterway. The east end mirrors the window arrangement on either side of loading doors on each floor.

Inside, the timber floors are supported by cast-iron columns, with the top floor columns holding up the multi-span collar-and-tie-beam roof. The basement dock is linked to the canal by the brick tunnel at the west end beneath the tow-path, and the floor over the dock is made up of a series of jack-arches resting on thick cast-iron columns.

Henry Brinton acquired the site in 1830, which was previously part of the works of Joseph Bowyer and became the foundation of the current carpet works. The warehouse was constructed during a significant expansion of Brintons carpet works in the 1860s and 1870s. This distinctive Victorian warehouse is prominently located in the centre of Kidderminster.