Gillette Factory – West London - June 2011
Visited with Gone, Millhouse and Nick UK as part of our Capital City rinse out. We arrived here after a fairly hairy experience the night before, drained, filthy and exhausted. Our time schedule having gone slightly out the window and the local area had started waking up. We wasted no time.
This is certainly a building in limbo and one with an interesting history with regards to its operational life and of exploring and although the place is stripped and bare now it harbours some interesting secrets. We managed to gain a few hours of very comfortable sleep before nicks banter woke me up. The room was glowing and it was all a bit strange.
Designed by Sir Banister F. Fletcher in 1936 and built specifically for Gillette, the razor manufacturer. The design of the building frontage is said to resemble a razor. It is located on the famous art deco 'Golden Mile' in West London.
This factory remained the UK HQ of Gillette's Operation, from before WW2 up until production ceased in 2006, where manufacturing was swapped to a new facility in Poland. The Bonnington Group have been granted planning permission by the London Borough of Hounslow to develop the 1930s Art Deco Grade II listed Gillette building into a hotel and business park, which will add to the West Cross industrial estate, of which Gillette Corner lies at the west end.
..We had a bit of a mooch around as we woke up.
Naturally the first stop was the roof and the clock tower which makes the factory so iconic. It was a beautiful day and We took in the rays while the morning commuters passed by below.
We continued to explore the factory in its naked but still epic form. Lots of art deco features and staircases. Some pretty incredible ceilings.
Toward the back of the building we came across a roller shutter door which was still active. When we opened it we looked on into a clean and vast storage room. This was the new factory which was built later.
As we progressed through we came across another area with a few nice surprises.
We left the site and headed straight for the local supermarket for some much needed refuelling before heading back into the capital for more epic adventures.
Thanks to all involved.
Sho.
Visited with Gone, Millhouse and Nick UK as part of our Capital City rinse out. We arrived here after a fairly hairy experience the night before, drained, filthy and exhausted. Our time schedule having gone slightly out the window and the local area had started waking up. We wasted no time.
This is certainly a building in limbo and one with an interesting history with regards to its operational life and of exploring and although the place is stripped and bare now it harbours some interesting secrets. We managed to gain a few hours of very comfortable sleep before nicks banter woke me up. The room was glowing and it was all a bit strange.
Designed by Sir Banister F. Fletcher in 1936 and built specifically for Gillette, the razor manufacturer. The design of the building frontage is said to resemble a razor. It is located on the famous art deco 'Golden Mile' in West London.
This factory remained the UK HQ of Gillette's Operation, from before WW2 up until production ceased in 2006, where manufacturing was swapped to a new facility in Poland. The Bonnington Group have been granted planning permission by the London Borough of Hounslow to develop the 1930s Art Deco Grade II listed Gillette building into a hotel and business park, which will add to the West Cross industrial estate, of which Gillette Corner lies at the west end.
..We had a bit of a mooch around as we woke up.
Naturally the first stop was the roof and the clock tower which makes the factory so iconic. It was a beautiful day and We took in the rays while the morning commuters passed by below.
We continued to explore the factory in its naked but still epic form. Lots of art deco features and staircases. Some pretty incredible ceilings.
Toward the back of the building we came across a roller shutter door which was still active. When we opened it we looked on into a clean and vast storage room. This was the new factory which was built later.
As we progressed through we came across another area with a few nice surprises.
We left the site and headed straight for the local supermarket for some much needed refuelling before heading back into the capital for more epic adventures.
Thanks to all involved.
Sho.
