Site of BP House, Third Avenue, Harlow (EHER 83215)

BP House was built for BP between 1965 and 1967 by architects Wilson, Mason and Partners. Three separate blocks were sited to allow adequate views of the surrounding countryside and the interior was designed to integrate the interior with the exterior landscape. The office blocks are built of reinforced concrete with pre-cast concrete slabs. The blocks are of four storeys with flat roofs and are linked by enclosed walkways forming a landscaped courtyard. A detached restaurant and set back computer suite form the west side of the courtyard. The building was assessed for designation in 2011 but failed to meet the required criteria. BP House was demolished around 2013, and an Amazon warehouse constructed on the site in around 2021.

NRHE data transfer: Abercrombie's Plan of 1944 established the principle of constructing ten satellite towns around London, one of which was Harlow, to ease the housing crisis in the capital exacerbated by the bombing during World War II. The New Towns Act of 1946 established the legal framework for their construction and Harlow was one of the first four to be formally designated. In 1947, the newly formed Harlow Development Corporation (HDC) appointed Frederick Gibberd (later Sir) as consultant-architect to prepare the town's master plan. Gibberd was an architect, planner and landscape architect who determined that the new town 'should give pleasure to the eye, to be beautiful. Harlow's design is also concerned with art, with the imagination that has been put into solving the practical problems.' By the late 1940s, construction was under way. In addition to the civic and commercial centre of the town, dispersed neighbourhoods with their own facilities were constructed. Industry was dispersed to the north-east and north-west of the town's centre. By the 1960s, Harlow was well established as a desirable industrial location and as the town expanded, firms looking for office accommodation showed increasing interest in relocating there spurred on, in part, by the rapid rise in London commercial rent. The government-sponsored Location of Offices Bureau assisted firms to move and between 1962 and 1968 negotiations were completed with Gilbey's the distillers, Longman Green the publishers and BP to move to Harlow. BP had made a favourable assessment for expansion at Harlow in 1964 and took a lease on the southern fringe of the western industrial area, Pinnacles. The development was planned in accordance with HDC's strict requirements which stated that the buildings should not be more than 4 storeys in height, could not cover any more than 5 acres of the site and should be confined to the southern part to respect the former village of Great Parndon and the Church of St Mary to the east. Car parking for 70% of the staff had to be provided. Wilson, Mason and Partners were appointed as architects; construction started in 1965 and the building opened in mid-1967. The preservation of the undulating parkland character was an important aspect of their design and to this end, three separate blocks were carefully sited to allow adequate views of the surrounding parkland and to accommodate the client's desire for a 'Burolandschaft' (office landscape) interior design. This German movement was inspired by Eberhard and Wolfgang Schelle in the 1950s and 60s, who combined the American open-plan office principle with the use of movable, often curved screens, irregular geometry and planting to create an egalitarian, collaborative and more humane working environment integrated with the exterior landscape. The building was designed to be capable of expansion to house up to 1,400 staff; the design concept allowing for a fourth block to be built which, with the restaurant block at the north-west, would be arranged around the central quadrangle laid out as a garden. Initially two L-shaped office blocks to the east and south (one of which included a computer room), with link buildings, and the restaurant to the north-west were built. Each office block had a covered walkway leading to the restaurant, framing the central courtyard. In the link buildings at either end of the blocks were two Paternoster lifts, but these were converted into traditional lifts later. A third block was added to the south-west between 1967 and 1970, further enclosing the central quadrangle. A plan of 1970 shows the computer block on the site of a new build of 2009 to the south-east, but this facility was constructed south of the restaurant building and linked with the later office block. A detached multi- storey car park further to south-west was built in a similar style by W.C French Ltd, the principal contractors for the building works. The complex was bought from BP by GlaxoSmithKline in 1990. Further buildings were constructed to the east in the early 21st century and there has been additional landscaping to the north-east. The three office blocks are little altered externally, but the rear elevations of the south block and restaurant have been remodelled slightly. Internally, the principal entrance to the complex in the eastern block retains its configuration, but the hand rail and balusters of the main staircase have been replaced. Mosaic artwork in the stairwell relates to BP's tenure of the building; the artist is unknown and there have been modifications to the design. Within the office accommodation, partitions to create individual offices, meeting rooms and kitchen facilities have been installed on a number of floors in the late 20th century. MATERIALS: Reinforced concrete clad with pre-cast concrete slabs. PLAN: BP House consists of three, linked office blocks of four storeys with flat roofs on the east and south sides of a central, landscaped courtyard. A detached restaurant and set-back computer suite form the west side of the courtyard. An enclosed walkway with a flat roof supported on slender columns forms the north arm of the courtyard, linking the eastern block with the restaurant and giving access to the central space. Another walkway from the south block to the restaurant is located on the west side of the courtyard. EXTERIOR: The concrete frame of the office blocks is exposed on most of the elevations and is consistently expressed on those facing the courtyard and the principal elevation of block A (see below). A slightly cranked, thick concrete beam runs between the ground and first floors, forming the crown of broad, arched openings to the ground floor windows below. Tapering concrete spines rise from the ground floor arches through the three floors above to the concrete eaves with a depressed arch form to the soffit. Uninterrupted bands of horizontal fenestration in slight aluminium frames, recessed behind the concrete frame, are emphasised by green, metal bands attached to the concrete at each floor level. The principal block (A) faces east and is approached through parkland by a road leading into the complex from the former historic village of Great Parndon. Off-centre is a recessed, slightly taller, reception block. It has the same exposed configuration of the frame, but has gridded, concrete panels between the tapering spines at both the front (east) and rear (west) elevations. The concrete beam between the office blocks on either side continues to the front of the reception range creating a porch to the main entrance. The beam projects south of the offices to form a raised, pedestrian walkway wrapping around the rear of the complex. The T-shaped restaurant block on the north-west side of the courtyard has three storeys and a flat roof with a green, metal band at the eaves. It has vertical blocks of fenestration in the east-west range and a projecting metal and glass, two-storey eating area which wraps around the east and south elevations. To the south, the computer suite has three storeys. It is a plain, utilitarian modular building with the exposed concrete frame at the corners and full-height fenestration with aluminium frames. A high-level corridor links the suite to the southern office block. To the south and west, the rear elevations incorporate service and plant areas with treatment similar to the computer suite. INTERIOR: The reception area of block A has a contemporary curved glass screen, but the main, pre-cast concrete staircase has replaced handrails and metal balusters. Mosaic art representing oil exploration is exposed in the stairwell, but the artist is unknown, and there have been some modifications to the piece. The office spaces are very similar, with lowered, panelled ceilings supported on round concrete columns. Corridors, individual offices, kitchens and partitions have been inserted. Most joinery and doors are contemporary, the latter with late 20th century fittings. In the link buildings at either end, contemporary metal staircases and hand rails remain. The central courtyard has paved surfaces and planters; it is believed that the space was originally under grass with a central piece. BP House, Third Avenue, Harlow, Essex is not recommended for designation for the following principal reasons: * Architecture: BP House is a mid-1960s office complex which has a derivative, repetitive modular design, and lacks the innovation and quality of detailing displayed on listed examples. * Interior: the alterations to the reception area and the remodelling on each floor, removal of the Paternoster lifts and Burolandshaft interior design have further diminished the architectural interest of BP House * External Alteration: the utilitarian construction and materials employed in the Computer Block of the early 1970s on the west side of the courtyard, and in the reworking of the rear elevations to the south and west, detracts from the overall interest of the ensemble. <1> BP House was demolished around 2013, and an Amazon warehouse constructed on the site around 2021. <2>-<4>