Numbers 113-117 (Odd) And Attached Railings

Numbers 113-117 (Odd) and Attached Railings, Farringdon Road, Islington

A works and foundry complex comprising two main blocks. The front block dates to 1864-1865, designed by Arding and Bond for the typefounders J and R M Wood. The rear block, giant stack, and top storey all date to circa 1875-1876, built for V and J Figgins, also typefounders.

The building is constructed in buff brick set in Flemish bond with restrained use of stone dressings. Italianate in style, it rises to six storeys with roofs obscured by parapets bearing wall brick stacks. A tapered giant stack of brick is attached to the rear.

The front block presents a three-bay main elevation to Farringdon Road (proportioned 3:3:1) and a one-bay side elevation to Ray Street (containing two windows). Full-height banded brick pilaster strips extend across the elevation, with a rounded corner. The principal elevation features recessed entrances to the far left and centre bays, while the Ray Street elevation has entrances to the right bay and to the connecting wing. Tripartite sashes with gauged-brick flat and segmental arches and keystones run throughout. Recessed brick panels occur between the 1st and 2nd storeys and between the 3rd and 4th storeys. A stone sill band runs to the 3rd storey; a modillioned cornice sits at 4th-floor level; stone coping crowns the parapet. Ground-floor moulded keyed stone hoods shelter segmental-arched openings, with a modillioned stone cornice above. An iron-bracketed crane is located at 1st-floor level on the Ray Street return wall.

The rear block employs very similar detailing. Full-height banded brick pilaster strips to the corners read as quoins. The Ray Street elevation displays paired entrances to a projecting centrepiece, separated by three sashes and flanked by antae carrying an entablature spanning the full width of the centrepiece. The endpieces are banded and rusticated, featuring round-arched 6-over-6 sashes with voussoirs and curved and radial glazing bars. The 1st to 4th floors have gauged-brick segmental and round-arched casement windows with keystones; the top floor has round-arched sashes with piers. Stone sill bands run to the 2nd and 5th storeys; stone cornices sit at ground and 3rd storeys. Decorative brick string courses run to the parapet. An elevator shaft occupies the Herbal Hill elevation. The rear elevations are similar but plainer, with the dramatic tapered brick chimney stack as the principal feature. The main elevation of the rear block spans Ray Street to Herbal Hill, articulated as three bays (3:5:3) with the centrepiece breaking forward; a recessed connecting wing of one window links the blocks.

Cast-iron railings are attached to the building, bearing the firm's initials.

Historically, Wood's foundry closed in 1872 and its stock was purchased by Figgins. An engraving of the foundry dating to circa 1900, held by St. Bride Printing Library alongside some of the firm's type specimens, demonstrates that the building survives almost intact. It represents an outstanding survival of the typefounding industry, extremely important for its early date, its substantial size, and its state of completeness. It is among the earliest surviving buildings on Farringdon Road.