So, today is the inaugural World Art Deco Day, hopefully an annual occurrence from 2021 onwards. #WorldArtDecoDay
Now, Loughborough is no Miami or Napier, nevertheless, we have plenty of Art Deco buildings to be proud of. This isn't the place for me to explain in detail just what Art Deco is, or when it arrived here, for there's plenty of information available on the internet for this e.g. here, here, and here.
Instead here's a bit of a rushed photo gallery of a few of our town's Art Deco beauties! There's lots to chose from! We have older town centre buildings whose frontages were redeveloped in the 1930s; we have town centre buildings that were new in the 1930s; we have Art Deco houses, and Art Deco garages around our lovely town. I've also included some Art Deco details that are to be found around the town centre. Apologies for the somewhat random order!
First up, here are some of the older buildings with newer, Art Deco frontages
 |
| Part of the Ivanhoe Terrace on Ashby Road originally built in 1882 |
 |
| Cinema in 2017. Originally built in 1914, Art Deco frontage created in 1936 |
 |
| Cinema detail 2018 |
 |
| Art Deco windows on the cinema 2018 |
There are some earlier blogposts on this site about Loughborough's cinemas, an article specifically on our current Odeon during the Second World War, when it was The Empire, and both the original Odeon (Beacon Bingo) and the current Odeon feature in the Art, Architecture and Sculpture trail.
For our next photographs, we have some town centre buildings built during the Art Deco period. This isn't an exhaustive collection, simply a selection!
 |
| Originally the Odeon cinema, opened in 1936. Photo 2017 |
 |
Corner detail of the former Odeon
|
Want to know more about the Loughborough Odeon's first manager in 1936?
 |
| Former Burton's store, photographed early 2020 |
 |
| Former Burton's store, photographed late 2020 |
 |
| Detail on the former Burton's store |
 |
| Originally a menswear store on Baxter Gate, photographed 2013 |
 |
| Looking along Swan Street, former Echo offices in the distance |
 |
| Former office of the Loughborough Echo: note adjacent Art Deco building (Halifax) and former Burton's store in the distance |
 |
| Close up of the Halifax building adjacent to the former Echo Offices |
 |
Egyptian style pillars, with modern-day protection at the former Echo offices
|
 |
| Poundstretcher building, originally one of Russel Smith's department stores |
 |
| Detail from the former Poundstretcher building |
 |
| Originally built in 1926 as a Co-operative store on Derby Road, photographed 2020 |
 |
| Detail of the former Co-op on Derby Road, photographed 2016 |
Pop over and read the story of a very different Co-operative store in Loughborough, which was on Wood Gate.
 |
| Blacksmith's Arms, built 1931, photographed 2014 |
 |
| Detail of the windows on the Blacksmith's Arms, photographed 2016 |
There's a bit more information about the Blacksmith's Arms over on this blogpost.
 |
| Cafe, formerly a tobacconist, built in 1931 |
 |
| Corner of Baxter Gate |
 |
| Window of the Rose and Crown (now the Loughborough Arms), photographed 2018 |
 |
| Swan-in-the-Rushes, built 1932, photographed 2021 |
You can find out a little bit more about the Swan-in-the-Rushes over on this blogpost.
 |
| View along Market Street, a complete row of Art Deco buildings - see also rooftop detail below |
A few other town centre buildings
 |
| Atherstone House was built during the Art Deco period |
 |
| Numbers 19 and 20 Baxter Gate were built during the Art Deco period |
Some Art Deco detail from the town centre
 |
| I might be wrong and this is probably earlier than Art Deco ... |
You can see more rooftop views of other buildings, though not necessarily Art Deco in style, on this blog: Part 1, and Part 2.
And finally from the town centre, although this building was built in 1907, the striking tower certainly has the kind of look we'd expect from an Art deco building
Here are some Art Deco residential properties in Loughborough
 |
| Art Deco property undergoing renovation 2021 |
 |
| Information boards accompanying the renovation 2021 |
 |
| Art Deco homes |
 |
| Row of Art Deco homes |
You can find out more about the area near these houses on this blogpost.
 |
| Art Deco garage |
 |
| A 1930s university hall of residence |
And finally, look out for an Art Deco trail coming soon!
 |
| A selection of Art Deco artefacts |
Thanks for dropping by! I do hope you've enjoyed looking at some of Loughborough's stunning Art Deco buildings!
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 28 April 2021
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:
Take down policy:
I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.
You can leave comments below, but do check back as my reply will appear here, below your comment.
Thank you for reading this blog.
Lynne
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have found this post interesting or have any questions about any of the information in it do please leave a comment below. In order to answer your question, I must publish your query here, and then respond to it here. If your information is private or sensitive, and you don't wish to have it on public display, it might be a better idea to email me using the address which is on the About Me page, using the usual substitutions. Thanks for reading the blog.