Ground Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
I will only be basing my main study in the middle of this huge building
Monday, 15 November 2010
Monday, 1 November 2010
Policy Research - Westminster Area
http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/environment/planning/planning-policy/
Different links in the website to different plans and documents to do with enviroment and space in the area.
Different links in the website to different plans and documents to do with enviroment and space in the area.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Close Up On Building's Materials
Traditional Roman (Sommerset House) Concrete Pillars. The exterior of the building is all of this material
Concrete floors and tiles outside, with glass on the floor. For light on the underground floor beneath. Street Pavement
Different coloured toned marble floor for a more rich look (Outside) just outside the doors
After entering you go over a long carpet. This will give the more internal look, and allow shoes to be cleaned
before setting foot on the interiors marble floor
Different tone marble floor on the interior, with gold strips for a posh, palace like effect.
Detailed interior pillars all around. Plaster and painted white. They are not concrete like the outside ones.
Granite and marble floors throughtout the building and main stairs
Iron detailed bars down the stairs with a gold handle throughout. Once again giving it a posh look
Saturday, 9 October 2010
GEOLOGY OF THE AREA ** (WHITELEYS)
Red Square: Whiteleys in 1869 Survey map
Blue line represents route to shopping centre through Queensway.
Not much of a difference on the main round
Above is a map of the same area and the centre in 1974. There were not to many changes, apart from construction of new buildings in some particular areas.
Above is a link to the history of the area and images and maps throughout the years in Bayswater and Hyde park zone.
Here is another map (1940's) where Whiteleys is by Queensway to the left side.
This is the information I have gathered so far on geological maps of the area from time to time
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
How whiteleys started and who found it!
He took a job with R. Willey & Company in Ludgate Hill, and then Morrison & Dillon's to learn all aspects of the trade. Whiteley lived frugally. Not smoking or drinking he was able to save up £700, enough to start his own business. London was expanding rapidly in the 1860s and after considering Islington he turned his attention to Bayswater; the area was rapidly being developed into a high class residential district. He observed the number of fashionable people using Westbourne Grove and decided to open his shop there. He started his business in 1863 by opening a Fancy Goods shop at 31 Westbourne Grove, employing two girls to serve and a boy to run errands. Later one of the girls, Harriet Sarah Hall, became his wife.
Seizing every opportunity, he acquired a row of shops in Westbourne Grove in 1867 and turned them into 17 departments. Dressmaking was started in 1868, and a house agency and refreshment room, the first ventures outside drapery, opened in 1872. By then 622 people were employed on the premises and a further 1,000 outside. Whitley started selling food in 1875, and a building and decorating department was added in 1876. This proved to be particularly profitable, as the large stuccoed houses in the area needed regular repainting. Claiming that he could provide anything from a pin to an elephant, William Whiteley dubbed himself "The Universal Provider".
He met strong opposition from smaller tradesmen, and also from the local authorities over his grand building plans, and several bad fires in the 1880s may have been caused by opponents. Business nonetheless prospered, aided by a delivery service extending up to 25 miles (40 km), and in 1887 the store was described as 'an immense symposium of the arts and industries of the nation and of the world'.
By 1890 over 6,000 staff were employed in the business, most of them living in company-owned male and female dormitories, having to obey 176 rules and working 7 am to 11 pm, six days a week. Whiteley also bought massive farmlands and erected food-processing factories to provide produce for the store and for staff catering. In 1896 he earned an unsolicited Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria - an unprecedented achievement.
Seizing every opportunity, he acquired a row of shops in Westbourne Grove in 1867 and turned them into 17 departments. Dressmaking was started in 1868, and a house agency and refreshment room, the first ventures outside drapery, opened in 1872. By then 622 people were employed on the premises and a further 1,000 outside. Whitley started selling food in 1875, and a building and decorating department was added in 1876. This proved to be particularly profitable, as the large stuccoed houses in the area needed regular repainting. Claiming that he could provide anything from a pin to an elephant, William Whiteley dubbed himself "The Universal Provider".
He met strong opposition from smaller tradesmen, and also from the local authorities over his grand building plans, and several bad fires in the 1880s may have been caused by opponents. Business nonetheless prospered, aided by a delivery service extending up to 25 miles (40 km), and in 1887 the store was described as 'an immense symposium of the arts and industries of the nation and of the world'.
By 1890 over 6,000 staff were employed in the business, most of them living in company-owned male and female dormitories, having to obey 176 rules and working 7 am to 11 pm, six days a week. Whiteley also bought massive farmlands and erected food-processing factories to provide produce for the store and for staff catering. In 1896 he earned an unsolicited Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria - an unprecedented achievement.
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