Abbey Road Studios

Recording Studios. Originally a frontage house dating from around 1830, substantially modified and enlarged in 1930-31 to form a recording studio. The architects were Wallis Gilbert & Partners. The building is constructed of rendered brick with a slate roof; the rear extension is built of yellow stocks with partial rendering.

The exterior features a four-bay front of two storeys over a basement, with the right-hand bay slightly set back. The entrance is flanked by Greek Revival pilasters and reached via steps that have been renewed. Tall ground floor windows are set within moulded frames with plate glass sashes. Smaller first floor windows sit within frames beneath deep eaves. The large rear elevation containing the recording studios is utilitarian in character, save for some channelled render applied to the corners, and features cast lintels and metal windows.

The interior has been much altered over time. The areas of special architectural and historic interest are confined to Studios One and Two. Studio One, which was intended for orchestral work, is a vast space roofed with latticed steel trusses and features distinctive baffle boards on the walls, which date from the post-war period. It has lost its original stage and Art Deco decoration. Studio Two was originally intended for big bands and smaller orchestras and became most famous as The Beatles' preferred studio. It retains its decorative plaster ceiling and the wooden stairs leading to the control room at mezzanine level. Studio Three was built for piano recording but has been considerably altered in recent times by designer Sam Toyishima and consequently is of lesser historical importance. The rest of the interior has been substantially remodelled, with only a pair of staircases remaining from the 1930-31 works. The principal interest lies in the recording studio and control rooms rather than the administrative rooms.

Abbey Road Studios are regarded as the earliest and best-known purpose-built recording studios in the world. They were opened by Sir Edward Elgar in November 1931, as commemorated by a Westminster City Council plaque on the exterior. The studios were initiated by the Gramophone Company in 1929, which was soon subsumed within the Electric & Musical Industries (EMI) company. The project cost £100,000 to buy, build and equip. The studios have been used by a wide range of outstanding musicians including Arthur Schnabel, Fats Waller, Noel Coward, Glen Miller, Marlene Dietrich, Gracie Fields, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd. The studios are known particularly for their close connection with The Beatles, over 190 of whose 210 recordings were made here with George Martin; their 1969 album was even named Abbey Road. Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon was recorded here in Studio Three. The building is listed primarily for its considerable cultural importance and its place in the history of popular music, as well as its significance as a notable manifestation of the fast-developing technology of sound recording.