62-64 Albion Street
62-64 Albion Street was designed by William Tadman Foulkes for the company Bishton and Fletcher in 1883. The Grade II listed building is significant for its facade, referencing traditional Italian architectural styles. Pilasters, designed to look like columns but set into the wall, are combined with terracotta fish scale panels, decorative cornices, and horizontal bands of stone. Nos 62-64, and No.65 share the facade, but they are two separate buildings.
Original features include the engine house, which probably contained a gas turbine; scrolled banisters and coloured tiles in the front hall; and decorative frosted glass in the windows.
Following a fire in 1932, the workshop interiors were rebuilt, with a lighter steel structure. Manufacturing activities took place in a light, open plan setting, and jewellery was made on site until the 2000s.
Restoration Project
The Jewellery Quarter Townscape Heritage (JQTH) grant scheme funded repairs across the building using traditional materials. Fibre cement slates were removed and replaced with Welsh slate tiles; cast iron rainwater goods were used; and new steel framed Crittall windows replaced the old, rusted ones. Victorian tiles which had to be removed from another part of the building were salvaged and used to restore the area around the ground floor hall and office. Historic panelling has been retained and restored.
The building has been re-named The Jointworks and re-purposed as a co-working space for creatives, bringing a new type of open plan working into the former workshops.
Before photos provided by Substrakt and after photos by Tom Bird @bytombird