Hoover Building

The Hoover Building stands in Perivale, a quiet corner of the London Borough of Ealing. Designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, it is a Grade II* listed Art Deco structure built in 1933 as the UK headquarters and factory for The Hoover Company. The firm’s American founder wanted a factory that would lift workers’ spirits, and Thomas Wallis added splashes of primary colour and sweeping curves. John Betjeman later compared the building to Wentworth Woodhouse, praising its dramatic windows and bold decoration. During the Second World War the site switched to making aircraft parts while camouflage netting hid its shape from enemy planes. After the war a five-storey extension was added to the north side. The building’s heyday came in the 1930s when 1,600 people worked here, making it a model of modern welfare. The factory grew to 254,000 square feet with new wings and a canteen for staff. In 1980 the main block and the canteen were given listed status, described as ‘possibly the most significant arterial-road factory of its date’. The site passed to Tesco in 1989, then stood empty until IDM Properties bought it in 2015. By 2018 the main building had been converted into 66 flats, keeping its Art Deco heart intact. Visitors today see the restored façade with its giant columns and sunburst above the entrance. Inside, original staircases with wrought-iron railings lead to flats on two floors, while a new timber mezzanine creates maisonettes on the ground floor. The first-floor corridors echo the 1930s colour scheme with green dado rails and Art Deco light fittings. Flats on the top floor have private terraces looking over the lawn, and Crittall steel windows fill the rooms with light. The building’s dramatic curves and bold lettering remain as striking as when Lord Rochdale opened it in May 1933.