Fountain Gallery

Chamberlain Square, Birmingham BL01421_A

CHAMBERLAIN SQUARE, Birmingham, West Midlands. This civic fountain was erected in 1880 by public subscription in gratitude for Joseph Chamberlain's time as mayor (1873-6). The architect was John Chamberlain, with S Barfield of Leicester, sculptor, and Salviati Burke & Co of Venice, mosaics. In the background are Mason College and the pubilc library, both of which have since been demolished. Photograph by Bedford Lemere circa 1890

© Historic England

Opening Yate Shopping Centre JLP01_08_071866

Yate Shopping Centre, Yate, South Gloucestershire. A large crowd of people gathered around the fountain on Four Seasons Square for the official opening of Yate Shopping Centre.
Yate shopping centre was designed by architects Stone, Toms and Partners and was constructed by Laing. It was built to serve a growing population and was a link between the old village and the new town with its modern houses. The shopping centre consisted of four wide shopping precincts linked by a centre court, housing four banks, a supermarket and a Woolworths store. There were also large car parks and a bus terminal. The official opening of Yate Shopping Centre took place on 25th September 1965 with Coronation Street actress, Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner), carrying out the ceremony watched by radio and TV personality, Ted Ray

© Historic England Archive

Fountain JLP01_09_811054

Sir John Laing Building, Page Street, Mill Hill, Barnet, Greater London. A fountain outside the front entrance of the Sir John Laing Building, Mill Hill.
The Sir John Laing Building, named in honour of the company's president who died in January 1978 at the age of 98, was built between 1977 and 1980 having been planned since 1974. The building completed a phase of development at Laing's Mill Hill headquarters complex, an area that the firm had occupied since moving from Carlisle in 1922. By 1988 however a major restructuring of the company and meant a wholesale relocation out of the Mill Hill site with just the Sir John Laing Building remaining as Group HQ. It too was subsequently demolished and housing occupies the site. The use of brick in a sculptural way was a deliberate attempt by architect Graham Barsby to distance the design from the concrete rectilinear forms of the 1960s. The building won a Certificate of Merit in the Brick Development Association Architectural Awards in 1983

© Historic England Archive