Wca Warehouse

The WCA Warehouse in Bristol is a Grade II listed building constructed between 1909 and 1912 by WA Brown. This warehouse features a concrete frame with blue and red brick facing and render, and it stands four storeys tall with a penthouse. The symmetrical river frontage is divided by wide pilasters, with blue brick at the ground level and red brick on the upper floors, complemented by concrete quoins in the middle and horizontal concrete bands marking the floor heights.

The ground floor has semicircular windows with central doorways in the outer sections, while the inner sections were originally glazed above roller blinds but are now partially bricked up. The upper floors feature three rectangular windows in the outer sections and three-storey cantilevered goods hoists in the three central bays, supported by curved brackets from the third floor. These hoists include moulded panels and mullion windows separated by sill bands, with narrow windows on either side. A two-leaf door is located below on the second floor.

Above a modillion cornice, the hoist rooms are topped by a raised central semicircular pediment, which includes a tall square bay window and the inscription "WCA REDCLIFF WHARF." Parapets on either side ramp above the pilasters and feature rendered panels. The entrance on the Redcliff Backs elevation is framed by a rendered semicircular moulded arch with swag in the spandrels, below a shield with feathers inscribed "ICH DIEN," and includes a central timber door frame with a glazed segmental pediment.

Inside, the warehouse has primary and secondary beams supported by columns, with a hollow pot floor and a central stairwell adjacent to a lift shaft. This building is noted for its early use of reinforced concrete, following the Perfector principle. The warehouse was also connected to the adjacent grain mill owned by WV Gough, which has since been destroyed.