Survey Data
Reg No
14935006
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Office
In Use As
Office
Date
1920 - 1940
Coordinates
207153, 204557
Date Recorded
14/09/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached fifteen-bay two-storey newspaper publishing house, built c.1930, with segmental bow to south side elevation and flat-roofed extension to rear. Set within its own grounds. Hipped slate roof, hidden by a parapet, with terracotta ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack to south end. Smooth rendered walls with projecting fascia to top of façade and coping to parapet. Square-headed window openings with steel-framed casement windows. Recessed full-height square-headed porch with rectangular profile columns. Square-headed door opening to porch with glazed timber doors. Rendered wall with metal railings to road. Two sets of rendered gate piers with metal gates.
Appraisal
Set back from the road, the headquarters of the Midland Tribune contrasts greatly with the architectural stock of the historic town of Birr. The simplicity of its Modern style incorporates linear features including a roof-masking parapet, horizontal banding, vertical porch columns and multiple square-headed windows. The result is a functional and highly stylish structure that retains a contemporary appeal.