Basic Site Details Name: | Selfridges | City or county: | London | Country: | England | Parish: | | Status: | | Grid ref: | | Notes: | Modelled statues of the Four Winds for the tower by Gilbert Bayes, but planning permission was refused, 1924. The Queen of Time clock by Bayes was installed, 1927-31. Floor roundels, 1927-29 and Madonna & Child in Doulton ware in roof garden, 1931
Bas reliefs of children and figures of Science & Art 1924 and Britannia and lions statue, 1935, on roof garden, by William Reid Dick, sculptor
The original part of the building is the SE section in Oxford Street and Duke Street.
Chief engineer on project was Sven Bylander, a Waring & White employee who was Swedish born and had settled in London in 1902. Project supervised by R Frank Atkinson who was acting for Waring & White. | Street AddressesThe following street addresses are associated with this building: | | Address | Main entrance? | Notes | | Oxford Street | Yes | |
EventsThe following date-based events are associated with this building: | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | 1906 | | Plans drawn up | Elevations redesigned from the original Neo-Grec to Louis XIV. | | 13 November 1906 | | | Original contract with Waring & White, (prior to submission to LCC) White being the American engineer on the Selfridge project. | | February 1907 | | | Plans submitted to LCC. | | 15 March 1909 | | Opened | | | 1919 | 1921 | | Second phase | | Before 1919 | | | First phase | | 1926 | | | Third phase |
PeopleDesign and ConstructionThe following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | D H Burnham & Co | | A | 1906 | | Orginal plans prepared. Daniel Burnham visited London in connection with the project in April 1907. | | Robert Frank Atkinson | | A | c. 1906 | | Partially responsible for first phase (acting for Waring & White); input also from Albert D Millar of Daniel H Burnham's office in Chicago, and others | | (Sir) John Burnet & Partners | | B | 1919 | 1926 | Second and third phases - with Albert D Millar of Graham, Anderson, Probst & Whyte (successor practice to Daniel H Burnham) | | (Sir) John James Burnet | | B | 1919 | 1926 | Second and third phases - with Albert D Millar of Graham, Anderson, Probst & Whyte (successor practice to Daniel H Burnham) | | Thomas Smith Tait | | B | 1919 | 1926 | Second and third phases - with Albert D Millar of Graham, Anderson, Probst & Whyte (successor practice to Daniel H Burnham) |
ClientsThe following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | Name | Notes | | Selfridge & Waring Ltd | Original client. Waring was Samuel J Waring of Waring & Gillow Ltd. The Company was dissolved in 1909, the client thereafter being Selfridge & Co Ltd.
|
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this building: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Academy Architecture | 1926 | | Volume 58 | | pp54-56 | | Bradley, Simon and Pevsner, Nikolaus (ed) | 2003 | London 6: Westminster (The Buildings of England) | | New Haven and London: Yale University Press | pp465-7 | | Burrows, E J | 1924 | Modern Architectural Art: Sir John Burnet & Partners | | Cheltenham | pp26-27 | | Clarke, Jonathan | 2014 | Early Structural Steel in London Buildings: a discreet revolution | | English Heritage | pp246-249. Deals mainly with the original D H Burnham Frank Atkinson structure for which Sven Bylander was the endgineer. | | Edwards, A Trystan | 1930 | The architectural work of Sir John Burnet and Partners (Masters of Architecture Series) | | Geneva | pp15-23 | | Honeycombe, Gordon | 1984 | Selfridges | | | | | Irvine, Louise and Atterbury, Paul | 1998 | Gilbert Bayes sculptor 1872-1953 | | | pp48, 159 | | Lawrence, Jeanne C | 2000 | Steel Frame Architecture versus the London Building Regulations: Selfridges, the Ritz and American Technology | | Chapter 15 in 'Studies in the History of Civil Engineering' volume 10, Structural Iron & Steel, 18 | | | Wardleworth, Dennis | 2013 | William Reid Dick, Sculptor | | Farnham: Ashgate | pp83-84, 115 |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this building: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | American Architect | 28 October 1908 | XCIV | | p140 Shows change in design from origonal Neo-Grec to Louis XCIV. | | Architects Journal | 18 February 1920 | | | Further references to post-war phase of the project | | Architects Journal | 15 April 1925 | | | Post-war phase of the project | | Architects Journal | 9 December 1925 | | | | | Architects Journal | 15 May 1929 | | | | | Architects Journal | 12 February 1992 | | | Dan Cruickshank | | Architectural Record | December 1909 | | | By Francis Swales | | Architectural Review | June 1909 | | | Written by Francis Swales | | Artist | October 1934 | | | p46, 48 (Four Winds),49 (madonna & child), 82 (illustration of clock), 151 (roundels), 154 (clock and Four Winds statues) | | Artist | November 1934 | | | pp79-80 | | Builder | May 1931 | | | p789 | | Illustrated London News | 25 July 1908 | | | Final scheme illustrated |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this building: | | Source | Archive name | Source catalogue no. | Notes | | MacDonald Price Partnership, Surrey | Archive of drawings | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | | Drawings | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | Thomas Smith Tait: F no2346 (box 5) |
|