Bata Industrial Buildings Numbers 24 And 34 Victory House And Nelson House

Buildings 24 (Victory House) and 34 (Nelson House) at the former British Bata site, East Tilbury, were designed by F L Gahura (1891–1958) and V Karfik (1901–1996) in the International Modern Movement style and built between 1934 and 1938 for the Bata Shoe Company of Zlin.

Both buildings are five-storey blocks constructed with reinforced concrete frames and columns in modules of 6.15 metres, a system evolved by architect Gahura and builder engineer Arnost Sehdel in 1927 for Zlin. The plan of each building conforms to a standard unit of thirteen bays by three, with a projecting circulation and sanitary block of three bays by one bay set in the centre.

Externally, both buildings feature extensive original fenestration across all elevations and flat roofs. Three centrally projecting bays on each facade contain projecting bands of rounded glazing above the main entrance. Building 34 is crowned with an iconic water tower bearing the 'Bata' trademark in red lettering. Later additions have been made to the rear of Victory House and to the rear and side of Nelson House, accommodating the modular design's intended flexibility.

Internally, all floors contain circular reinforced concrete columns of uniform diameter, enabling the use of travelling steel formwork. The large open spaces between columns formerly accommodated leather and rubber manufacturing processes. Numerous boot and shoe moulds remain as evidence of this use. The buildings retain their original stairs with tubular steel handrails and dividing balustrrades to each flight, though reversible modern partitions have been added to some floors.

The Bata shoe company selected the historic riverside location of East Tilbury for a purpose-built shoe factory and settlement between the 1930s and 1960s. Founded by Thomas Bata, the company grew to become one of the world's largest shoe manufacturers by the interwar period, co-ordinating global operations from its headquarters at Zlin. By the 1930s, Gahura and Karfik—both trained with Le Corbusier, and Karfik also with Frank Lloyd Wright—had developed a consistent International Modern Movement architectural language applied across Bata sites worldwide. The British Bata factory at East Tilbury, established in 1933, was unique as the company's only British manufacturing complex. The first factory buildings, including Building 12, were constructed in January 1933. A leather factory (Trafalgar House, Building 13) and domestic housing followed in 1934. Buildings 24 and 34, a second leather and rubber factory, were constructed between 1936 and 1938, alongside a garage and social facilities. Although the Second World War slowed development, the site continued to expand into the 1960s, operating as both producer and distributor of Bata rubber and leather footwear.