Greater London, City Of Westminster, Westminster, 25-35 Grosvenor Place

Building Notes

In the late 1950s Basil Spence and Partners were commissioned by Associated Electrical Industries to carry out structural and interior design work for their boardroom and company secretary's office, Grosvenor Place, London. Anthony Blee was the project architect. The building itself was designed by Wimperis Sampson and Fiffe with Sir Albert Richardson as design consultant. Associated Electrical Industries was an association of various companies including Siemens and Metro-Vickers.

Archive Details and Summary

The Sir Basil Spence Archive contains one manuscript folder, 20 photographs and 94 drawings relating to the Associated Electrical Industries Project. The project was published in the Architectural Review.

The manuscript material provides a detailed breakdown of all the bespoke furniture, fittings and design features associated with this job, including the materials used. There is also an interpretation of the themes of the boardroom mural by Edward Bawden (who had also provided a mural for the Festival of Britain in 1952). The photographs include views of both rooms and details of furniture and the boardroom clock.

The drawings in the Archive include sketch designs, as well as plans, sections, elevations and details of the furniture designed by the practice. It also shows that the boardroom table was composed of four parts so that it could be easily re-arranged into different forms. One of the pieces of furniture for the company secretary's office was a combined display case, cocktail cabinet, radio and television.

This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.