Greater London House
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The Carreras Building, now known as Greater London House is an office building in Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, London, which was constructed as a factory for the Carreras Tobacco Company.
The building was built on the crescent's communal garden in 1926 to designs by M.E. & O.H. Collins and is one of the best known art deco buildings in London. It is 550 feet (168 metres) long, and is mainly white. The exterior was said to be inspired by the Egyptian temple of the cat-goddess Bubastis. When the factory was converted into offices in 1961 the Egyptian detailing - which included a solar disc to the Sun-god Ra, two gigantic cats flanking the entrance and colourful painted details - was lost, but it was restored during a restoration in the late 1990s. Greater London House now houses offices for the Young & Rubicam advertising agency, ASOS.com, EMAP Communications, Radley + Co and other companies. Thomson Holidays UK Head Office used to sit at Greater London House, but following a restructure it re-located to Wigmore House in Luton.
[edit] References
- The Buildings of England. London 4: North, by Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner. ISBN 0140710493
