Sunlight Chambers is a listed residential and commercial building on Bigg Market in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was designed by architects William & Segar Owen in a modified Baroque style[1] and was named after Lever Brothers' Sunlight detergent brand.
| Sunlight Chambers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Coordinates | 54°58′17″N 1°36′48″W / 54.9713°N 1.6134°W |
| Built | 1901-2 |
| Architectural style(s) | Baroque |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 30 March 1987 |
| Reference no. | 1116510 |
  Location of Sunlight Chambers in Tyne and Wear | |
History edit
Lever Brothers was founded in 1895 by brothers William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). Together with chemist William Hough, the brothers created a soap that used glycerin and vegetable oils such as palm oil instead of tallow. The resulting soap was free-lathering. At first, it was named Honey Soap but later became "Sunlight Soap".[2]
In 1901, the brothers hired architects William & Segar Owen to design a building for the Newcastle branch of their company. It was constructed between 1901 and 1902[3] and was named after Lever Brothers' then-famous soap brand.
Design edit
The building is constructed in a modified Baroque style using sandstone ashlar. The building features a frieze depicting harvest and industry. Its roof consists of French tiles and its architrave-featuring windows are dormer at roof level.[4]
Sister building in Dublin edit
At almost the same time, Lever Brothers built a branch in Dublin, which they also called Sunlight Chambers. Although the Irish building was designed in an Italianate style[5] rather than a Baroque style, both Sunlight Chambers feature a characteristic circumferential frieze.
See also edit
- Port Sunlight, Lever Brothers' model village in Merseyside, begun in 1888.
- Sunlight House, Manchester
References edit
- ^ "SUNLIGHT CHAMBERS, Non Civil Parish - 1116510 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ^ Jeannifer Filly Sumayku, Unilever: Providing Enjoyable and Meaningful Life to Customers[usurped][usurped], The President Post, 22 March 2010
- ^ "Newcastle, Bigg Market, Nos. 2 to 4, Sunlight Chambers". 26 May 2021.
- ^ "SUNLIGHT CHAMBERS, Non Civil Parish - 1116510 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ^ "Sunlight Chambers, 20-21 Parliament Street, Essex Quay, Dublin 2, DUBLIN".