Northcliffe House

Northcliffe House is a newspaper printing office built between 1925 and 1926, designed by Ellis and Clarke. It is a stone-clad steel framed structure with a roof that is not visible. The building has four storeys plus an attic storey, featuring seven bays on Tudor Street and six bays on Whitefriars Street. The corner entrance is square-headed and has a prominent keystone. The first, second, and third floors are unified by giant order Ionic pilasters, which have lion head masks on their capitals. The façade is almost fully glazed between the first and second floors, with long three-light windows linked by continuous mullions. The metal glazing bars create a margin glazing pattern, subdivided into very small panes. Above the third floor, there is a fluted coved cornice in a neo-Egyptian style, and the attic storey is recessed. A short polygonal corner tower adds to the design. Northcliffe House was built for Associated Newspapers (Northcliffe/Rothermere) and was the first British newspaper printing office to feature reel feed from beneath the printing presses.