Former Worcester Cross Factory and Offices, and weaving sheds

Former carpet factory and offices built in 1878–9 for H R Willis and designed in the Queen Anne Revival style by architect J G Bland of Birmingham. The building was owned by Woodward, Grosvenor and Company from 1883. Late 19th-century additions were made to the complex. Not included in the listing are mid-20th-century single-storey additions to the north-west end of the principal elevation, mid-20th-century extensions to the rear range, and a mid-20th-century detached single-storey building to the rear north-east of the site.

The principal elevation faces south-west towards Worcester Street and comprises an eleven-bay, linear range of three storeys with basement and attic. Materials throughout are red brick laid in Flemish bond (the rear range in English bond) with plain clay tiles to the roof and plain clay wall tiles to the side walls of gabled dormers. Timber sash windows with margin glazing are set in brick surrounds of gauged brickwork with stone cills; lower-storey windows have segmental heads whilst upper-storey windows have flat-arched heads. Brick chimney stacks and gauged brickwork with red terracotta dressings complete the exterior treatment. The separate brick weaving sheds employ cast-iron columns and tie beams, with roofs covered in glazed panels and corrugated asbestos.

The main façade is arranged as 1:4:1:4:1 bays with moulded band courses. The outer and central bays project slightly forward and are crowned with Dutch gables rising above the eaves cornice, each with an oculus to the tympanum and three narrow windows beneath. The basement level, set forward in alignment with the outer and central bays, has split-level windows. The outer bays feature wide round-arched wagon entrances with pairs of sash windows beneath segmental heads to the two storeys above. The central bay forms the stairwell with a round-arched doorway of three orders, a three-light mullion-style window, a recessed rectangular plaque, and a large three-light window with glazing bars beneath a semi-circular window with radial glazing bars.

To the left of the principal range stands a late 19th-century addition whose street frontage continues the set-forward basement level and moulded plat band of the earlier building. An off-centre door with fanlight and applied decorative metal grille is set within a round-arched doorway of three orders topped by a Dutch-style gable with a panel beneath the pediment. The addition features 20th-century rooflights.

The plan comprises the principal range with offices either side of a central stairwell and packing rooms to the basement. To the left is the late 19th-century seven-bay, two-storey extension with basement and attic, internally connected to the main building. The rear range, extending north-east from the principal range, contains a first-floor showroom and gives the building an L-shaped plan. Between front and rear ranges are north-lit weaving sheds. The north-eastern extent of the site retains the remains of a boiler house and chimney; the engine house has been demolished.

Internally, the basement comprises a series of connected rooms with brick floors. One room retains a single cast-iron column and a wooden lift operated by a rope-pulley system. A brick staircase leads to the ground floor; the stairwell is lined with tiles laid in English garden wall bond.

The principal entrance hall, set below the raised ground floor, has been modified with a terrazzo floor, wall panelling, and the insertion of a small section of 1930s Art Deco-style staircase with metal balustrade. The original open-well staircase continues from ground floor to upper floors, featuring a decorative cast-iron balustrade, carved wooden handrail, moulded wall string, and a plaster cornice to its underside. The stairwell has a coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling with moulded cornice. The lower stair window has Doric pilasters and classical entablature.

Each landing provides access via a moulded segmental arch to former offices flanking the stairwell, which retain 19th-century skirting boards and cornices; some preserve fireplaces, doors and architraves. The second-floor corridor features a full-height moulded round arch at its south-east end, with rooms having panelled ceilings. Cast-iron columns appear within the bays north-west of the stairwell at ground and first-floor levels.

The late 19th-century addition rooms are plainer in treatment. The first-floor showroom in the rear range is accessed via a 1930s Art Deco-style staircase with dado-height panelling. The former showroom features moulded arch-braced roof trusses supported on stone corbels, each individually carved with different birds; the ceiling is panelled between the trusses.

The north-lit weaving sheds employ a saw-tooth roof profile. The south side is covered with glazed panels separated by glazing bars; the north side is covered in corrugated asbestos and faced with timber boards internally. Roofs are supported on cast-iron columns and fish-belly tie beams by F Bradley of Kidderminster, widening in profile towards the centre for greater strength. Each beam has a wide section to the centre of the lower flange for fixing line-shaft hangers. The floor is covered in concrete above remains of blue bricks. Gable ends contain round ventilation windows with metal radial glazing bars.