Having walked from Hebden Bridge to Halifax with Mr Phil Wood, we approached Hall Street – and gazed admiringly at this striking building, from across the A58.
Attributed to C.S. Oldfield and it was completed in 1972 apparently they did the relief too.
20th Century Society
A low serrated, ridge and furrow conical roof, corona and steel spire breaking the skyline.
Very much a building of two halves, the single storey hall, adjoining the body of the church, which is raised on a plinth.
They are linked by an internal hallway.
An intriguing mix of restrained classical detailing, along with the more modernistic roof and internal structure.
From the outside it is possible to discern the stained glass panels in the corona.
To the right of the main entrance is a modular sculptural relief, modelled in concrete cast in fibreglass.
There are eight individual modules, set in a grid of six by eleven – sixty six in total, rotated to break up the rhythm of the piece.
I was blessed on the day of my visit, with permission to photograph the interior, many thanks to Pastor Mark.
The Beefeater Grill and Griddle is a long established family run grill and coffee house located at George Square Halifax. The place has an old fashioned feel to it and serves typical English cafe food which seems to make it popular amongst its local regulars.
Long may it do so.
Strangers to the town we wandered the streets in search of sustenance.
Bewitched bothered and bewildered – seduced by the tiles and signage, it was love at first sight.
The ability and will to resist the broad brush of regeneration and reinvention is all too rare, the traditional café is constantly under threat – the Beefeater has prevailed.
A stunning tiled exterior, a multi level interior and a menu to match, it’s win, win, win, win all the way.
The Halifax was formed in 1853 as the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society. The idea was thought up in a meeting room situated above the Old Cock Inn close to the original Building Society building.Like all early building societies, the purpose of the society was for the mutual benefit of local working people.
Why are we not here?
In 2006, the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006 was passed. The aim of the Act was to simplify the corporate structure of HBOS. The Act was fully implemented on 17 September 2007 and the assets and liabilities of Halifax plc transferred to Bank of Scotland plc. The Halifax brand name was to be retained as a trading name, but it no longer exists as a legal entity.
What have we here?
The Halifax Building was designed by the architecture firm BDP and constructed in 1968-74, as the headquarters for the Halifax Building Society and built with an unusually high budget. The rapid growth of the society over the twentieth century prompted the requirement for a new headquarters building, and in 1968 the aim of the architects was to design not only a practical building but a bold building for a confident client.
“Though necessarily large in scale, and centrally located in the town, the design is one of humanity, respecting both the townscape in which it was placed, and the employees it was to house…The high budget was reflected in the building’s finishes inside and out. Externally a limited colour palette and use of York stone cladding gave a homogeneity and showed consideration to the local character of the stone buildings of Halifax. Internally, materials were high quality and colour co-ordinated, with landscaping to both the public ground-floor spaces and the executive fourth floor.”
Ian Nairn thought well of it –
I wandered around amazed by the sheer mass of the main volume of the building, and the thin slithers of sunlight and blue sky which abutted its glass and stone skin.
When approached by a curious security guard, I quickly allayed his initial fears, on production of my Manchester Modernist Society membership card and badge.
However fellow urbanists, take care, for the public is often mutually private and public at one and the same time, don’t step over the line.
