Canteen at Head Office of Rhone Poulenc Limited is a Grade II listed building in the Barking and Dagenham local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 November 1995. Canteen.
Canteen at Head Office of Rhone Poulenc Limited
- WRENN ID
- ghost-cornice-azure
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Barking and Dagenham
- Constituency
- Dagenham and Rainham MP: Margaret Mullane (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 November 1995
- Type
- Canteen
- Address
- Canteen at Head Office of Rhone Poulenc Limited, Rainham Road South
- OS grid reference
- TQ 505 853
- Coordinates
- 51.54741, 0.16927
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The canteen at the Head Office of Rhone-Poulenc Limited is a Grade II listed building designed in 1943 and constructed in 1944, with an extension added in 1953 for executive dining facilities. The architect, Edward Mills, was known for his expertise in industrial building design.
This rectangular structure features a distinctive wavy shell concrete roof with a ridged under-surface. The east front is fully glazed with patent metal glazing, while the west side retains one bay and includes a 1978-9 extension that is not considered of special interest. The southern end of the building is made of brick and originally included a stage, which has since been removed. The 1953 extension maintains the original glazed staircase hall, complete with a steel balustrade, although it has undergone other alterations that do not hold special interest.
The canteen is notable for being one of the earliest shell concrete structures in the country, a design choice made for its material efficiency and ability to span large areas, which Mills executed with elegance.
Local climate
Canteen at Head Office of Rhone Poulenc Limited sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 680 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 96% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 25 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 73% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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