55, Great Suffolk Street

The building at 55 Great Suffolk Street is a warehouse dating from the 1850s or 1860s, located in Southwark. Constructed primarily of stock brick, the warehouse has four storeys plus a raised basement and attic, topped with a hipped slate roof concealed by a concrete rendered parapet. The western elevation, facing Great Suffolk Street, has five bays and incorporates central loading bays with original timber doors, alongside segmental-headed windows with metal glazing bars. The rear elevation is similar, with the southernmost bay distinguished by round windows and a ground-floor door that illuminates the staircase. Three iron hoists, featuring decorative spandrels, remain, two serving the eastern loading bays and one the western. The building is adjacent to other properties to the south and faces a blank facade to the north, incorporating a chimney shaft that seemingly doesn’t correspond to any openings.

Inside, a timber staircase with a plain handrail and crossed balustrade provides access to the floors. Simple cast iron columns, decreasing in girth upwards, support timber floors and beams. Trap doors are present near the western loading bays, facilitating movement of goods between floors. Later partitions exist on the basement, ground, and first floors, but the remaining spaces largely retain an open storage area layout. A queen post roof is also original.

The warehouse was likely speculatively built, intended for rental rather than a specific firm. Records indicate it served as storage for Spicer Bros, paper merchants, in the late 19th century. Their factory is located nearby at 180-194 Union Street. While Spicer Bros likely rented the warehouse, their ownership history remains somewhat unclear from directory records.

The building is designated at Grade II for its well-preserved character: it represents a notably unaltered mid-19th century warehouse with original windows, doors, loading bays, hoists, and interior features. Its survival is comparatively rare given the number of similar warehouses that once stood in Victorian Southwark.