Elettra House (EHER 15674)

Early 1960s purpose built headquarters of Marconi International Marine Co Ltd. The building is in use and is in good condition.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. Electra House (TL 6950 0540) was built as the headquarters of Marconi International Marine Co. Ltd. in 1962. It consists of a three-storeyed office range fronted to Westway, behind which there are ranges of one and two storeys served by a goods entrance on New London Road. The office range appears to be of framed ferroconcrete construction, with continuous fenestration on the south front, and a brick outer leaf on the return elevations. The front consists of 2+4+8 bays, the four-bay entrance section projecting and having panels of green glass beneath the windows, while elsewhere the panels are of pre-cast concrete with exposed aggregate. The glazed entrance appears to have been remodelled. To the rear there are two three-storeyed projecting wings. A seventeen-bay two storeyed range projects northwards from the east end of the office range. The construction is similar but the panels appear to be painted, and many are blind. In the re-entrant formed by this range and the office range there is a more complex series of structures, two-storeyed to the south, but single-storeyed and north-lit to the north. The varied accommodation suggests simple functional divisions: reception and office functions in the office range, perhaps design and research functions in the south wing, and manufacturing or assembly in the north-lit ranges. A detached two-storeyed range to the west incorporates a gatehouse. <1>. Photographs in NMR Swindon <2>. Additional material at ERO <3>. Additional reference <4> <5> <6>