13, Allsop Place

13 Allsop Place

A former office building constructed in 1912–13 as the company headquarters of the Metropolitan Railway. It was designed by Charles Walter Clarke, Chief Architectural Assistant, under William Willox, Engineer to the Metropolitan Railway.

The structure comprises a reinforced concrete frame with a façade clad in white faience. The building is planned as a broad U-shape with a rectangular frontage block facing Allsop Place and two rear wings. From these extend two lower wings supported on piers above the Metropolitan Line platforms and tracks. Although uniform in external height, the building is constructed on two internal levels: the principal façade to Allsop Place comprises four storeys, while the rear portion rises to seven storeys. The internal layout has undergone radical alteration to create open-plan offices.

The principal block presents three main storeys plus an attic and basement. Contemporary descriptions termed the style "neo-Grec", though it is executed in a French-inspired classical manner. The façade comprises nine principal bays: the central three bays are broader and contain three windows each, while the outer three bays contain 2-3-2 windows respectively. The ground floor is rusticated with a central porch and additional porches flanking the penultimate bays to north and south, the latter paired with a bay window. The main central entrance porch is framed by low quadrant walls and surmounted by a pair of cherubs supporting the Company's armorial bearings. Both porches feature panelled doors with geometric fanlights. Above the ground floor, bays are separated by pilasters with stylised Ionic capitals, and the central windows of the three-window bays are accentuated by moulded architraves and aprons. The upper part of the second storey is decorated with applied railway motifs in cast iron, including wheels, signal posts, buffers and coupling chains. Timber multi-pane sashes are employed throughout, though attic windows have been replaced. The façade terminates in a deep modillion cornice and blocking course. A bronze plaque commemorates the laying of the foundation stone by Lord Aberconway, Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, on 12 July 1912. The rear elevations are plain and of little architectural merit.

The interior is clad throughout in modern materials with suspended ceilings. No visible decorative features remain, though some may persist concealed beneath modern finishes.

The Metropolitan Railway was the world's first underground railway, with its first section opening in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon Street. By the early 20th century it had become a significant network. The railway was electrified by 1907 and was fiercely independent, cultivating the image of a mainline company. In 1911, as part of a comprehensive rebuilding programme prompted by increasing congestion and the drive to exploit suburban expansion to the north-west, the Metropolitan Railway decided to relocate its offices from various dispersed locations and establish new headquarters at Baker Street. The company possessed a unique legal privilege whereby it could retain surplus land acquired for railway development in the late 19th century, which enabled the creation of "Metro-land"—a term coined by the Metropolitan Railway's publicity department in 1915 to describe the idealised commuter landscape of north-west London.

The building was constructed in conjunction with the remodelling and extension of Baker Street Station. The ground floor contained the offices of the Chairman, General Manager and Chief Engineer, with a bridge link providing staff access to Baker Street Station. The Metropolitan Railway remained independent until 1932, when it was merged with the Combine and bus and tram networks into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, at which point the Metropolitan Railway network became the Metropolitan Line.