Factories

The newly created Metro-Land suburbs were not just sleepy commuter towns and, especially in areas such as Acton and Park Royal, attracted new factories and industrial centres. These were mainly built along the freshly built A roads such as the Great West Road and Western Avenue. The most famous factory architects of this period were the firm of Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. As well as designing the iconic Hoover Building in Perivale, they created a number of factories on the ‘Golden Mile’ in Brentford and the EMI complex in Hayes. Many of their factories still survive, and have been turned to non-industrial uses, but many others have been demolished. Most infamously the Firestone factory in 1980, which led to some of the current listed building legislation being passed into law.