E M Lander's Stonemasons Showroom

E M Lander's Stonemasons Showroom

A monumental mason's showroom built in 1927 by the architectural firm John Farrer and Sons for E M Lander Ltd. The building is constructed of yellow stock brick laid in Flemish bond with a hipped clay-tile roof. The shopfront is clad in cream-coloured faience.

The showroom is single-storey and rectangular in plan, located on the south side of Harrow Road just east of the main entrance to Kensal Green Cemetery.

The shopfront features a central entrance set back within a broad splayed lobby. The lobby floor is grey terrazzo with a cream border and lettering bearing the company name and building number. The entrance is flanked by engaged Doric columns with grey polished granite bases and capitals and brown marble shafts, which support a timber entablature. The glazed timber door has a pilastered surround. The shop windows consist of large panes with timber mullions and transoms arranged in a staggered pattern. Faience stallrisers flank the lobby, whilst grey granite stallrisers frame the front, set between pilasters with granite bases. The faience fascia displays raised bronze lettering with the company name flanked by 'MONUMENTAL' and 'SCULPTORS' in Gothic script, with the building number above a deep moulded cornice. The side elevations feature similar glazing, each with an entrance and a fascia bearing the company name.

The rear elevations are of plain brick, largely white painted, with timber windows with concrete sills and lintels. A later outshut with a flat concrete roof has been added at the western end of the south elevation, and one window has been blocked with concrete blocks. Rainwater goods are cast-iron.

Internally, the building is divided into a front showroom with an office, consultation room and storeroom (shown as a private office on the original plans) at the rear. A glazed timber screen with panelling, cornice and pilasters divides the showroom from the office and waiting room. The screen windows have margin glazing and opaque glass with transoms above three doorways. The main entrance to the showroom mirrors the external classical timber surround, flanked by the internal faces of the Doric columns. The waiting room features a moulded cornice and full-height panelling. The doors to the waiting room and storeroom from the office have leaded glazing. The office contains fitted cupboards below the external window. Modern suspended ceilings have been installed throughout.

The yard surrounding the showroom includes single-storey storage sheds on the east and south sides. The original brick blocks on the east side date from the same period as the showroom, with the northern block having a shed roof and the larger southern block a pitched roof, both with corrugated metal covering. The blocks along the southern boundary, adjoining the Grade II listed cemetery wall, are later concrete blockwork additions with flat felted roofs. A simple steel crane for lifting stone stands at the rear of the yard.