Benlow Works

Benlow Works is an orchestral factory, now a factory, built between 1909 and 1911. It features a reinforced concrete frame designed by E P Wells and a brick exterior by Walter Cave. The building has four storeys and a 19-bay elevation. The entrance bay, which is the seventh from the left, includes a semi-circular stepped brick architrave above the doorway and segmental-arched metal casement windows flanked by rusticated pilasters that are slightly set forward, breaking the parapet. The elevation is strikingly articulated by brick piers and full-height semi-circular arched stepped architraves that frame alternate single and double bays. The double bays feature broad Diocletian windows on the third storey, positioned above central brick piers. The building is topped with a crenellated parapet. The rear and side elevations are similar in design. Inside, the floors and roof are supported by reinforced concrete columns with stop-chamfered arrises.