Liberty Department Store in London Regent Street

The concept of any building refers to the visual image, style or color scheme that is to be applied to the exterior of a building, or the decorations in the interior. Before a building is planned, the interior architect should first understand the local culture together with the client’s organization and culture, and the intended function of the building, whether social or political. In addition, it is good for the architect to consider the changing technological demands of that time. Some buildings also connect the interior with some historical information, as is the case with Liberty Department Stores in London. The design of this building shows architectural history and the social functions that were the main focus when the store was built. Strong organizational concepts were employed in the early stages of planning to provide clear guidelines in the planning and the designing process. This essay will analyze the Liberty Department Store in London, Regent Street, to find out how its interior and exterior designs reflect its social functions. Its form and historical context will also be explored.

The Liberty Stores building was built when the premises on Regent Street were being renovated. The main function of this building was trade. The current Liberty Stores Department has two wings. The first magnificent wing was completed in 1924, with the neo-Tudor structural design. Timber was used in its construction, which was transported by two British naval ships; the HMS Hindustan and the HMS Impregnable. The Liberty building was structured by the father and son team of Edwin T. and Edwin S. Hall. The outside and inside of the building were designed in an impressive way.

A building’s opening also affects its form, reveals its character and show us its architectural importance. These openings show how accessible the building is, and create a social and public character ( Reichel & Schultz, 2010). Special doors can be used at the entrances like a form of decoration, making the building a status symbol and promoting the prestige of its occupants. The designs of the openings of a building determine whether the building express a welcoming or a forbidden attitude to the public, so it is advisable for public building to have extensive, open-plan foyers and ground floor areas. Liberty Department Stores has reflected this plan.

Figure 1: Entrance of Liberty Department (A view on Cities, 2014).

Figure 2: Exterior view of Liberty Department stores (A view on Cities, 2014).

Buildings have different spatial and physical qualities, depending on their intended functions. The plan, form and spaces of a building should be directly related to a well-developed and clear concept (Reichel & Schultz, 2010).Daylight can be directed in buildings to highlight elements of the interior that serve specific purposes and put emphasis on spatial composition.Some spaces may be planned intentionally to ensure that functional requirements are met during the design and development stage. The Liberty Stores building was designed with the long structure around three light wells, which served as large landings off which lay several rooms, unlike the layout of a country house. The Liberty Store is built symmetrically since it has two wings, each with small rooms. Site characteristics of a building should consider the geographical situation, location near the city center, and access to traffic infrastructure. The designers of the Liberty Store put this into consideration when structuring the building.

Spatial structure of the building and spatial abilities of the building users can makesome people to lose their way in buildings, especially shopping malls like the Liberty stores. Users should construct cognitive maps as they navigate through the building in order to avoid getting lost (Carlson, Holscher, Shipley, & Dalton, 2010). It is always advisable that a building and its cognitive map should correspond to avoid confusion to the users. It is also important to consider the orientation of the building and its openings in relation to the surroundingenvironment(Reichel & Schultz, 2010). The customers can get an opportunity to enjoy the scenes created in the outside environment where possible.

According to Binggeli (2011), load bearing walls can be built with metal or wood studs. Liberty building, in this case, is built using wood on the load bearing walls. The cavities between the studs were used for thermal insulation, vapor retarders, and mechanical distributions making the building habitable. The superstructure and foundation of a building have other components like walls, ceilings, stairs, floor, windows, and doors that define interior spaces, exits, and movement of materials within the building (Binggeli, 2011). The circulation space in the building of Liberty Stores is big enough for the customers to do their shopping conveniently. Liberty Stores have warm touches like decorative elevators, small, intimate staircases, wooden balconies, and sparkling glass atriums that add aesthetic values, attracting a lot of customers.A visit to the stores shows an exquisite Elizabethan aspect, Tudor beams and hand-carved mahogany staircase (Harris, 2011).

The process of presenting a room often sets it apart from the way it was originally used (Forsyth &White, 2011). The historic function of buildings is basic to their working and appearance. Many decorative schemes in buildings today reflect their room usage. With the changing world, owners of businesses are considering the role that authentic appeal has in influencing the customers’ preferences (Forsyth &White, 2011). They are, therefore, seeking to improve the interior of buildings in order to attract more customers and meet their business goals. The indoor climate in any building should be different from the outdoor climate. Insulating the rooms to create warmth and comfort is very important. In relation to this, Liberty department Stores in London have a lot of appeals to their customers because of the attractive decorations and comfort in the stores. It makes shopping in these stores feel like a holiday.

Figure 3: The interior of Liberty Stores (Liberty, 2014).

The interior of Liberty Stores is broadly connected to the historical aspects like architecture. It was designed by Edwin T. and Edwin S. when the renovation of Regent Street was in progress.   At this time, the neo- Tudor fashion of designing buildings was very popular, prompting the designers of the Liberty building to adopt this design. It is a symbol of traditional old-fashioned English luxury (Harris, 2011). The main aim of building these stores was to continue trading as the other premises were being renovated. The materials utilized in the building show the characteristics of local settings in a beautiful way (Binggeli, 2011). The construction of the premises with timber shows the rich forests at that time, which has greatly reduced recently. The circumstances that led to the commissioning of this building included the inspiration that the owner, Arthur Lusenby Liberty, had about starting his firm after being employed as a clerk for ten years in a furnishing and clothing business. He had a drive to improve the culture of designs.

Figure 4: The interior of Liberty Department Stores (Liberty, 2014)

Some architectural historians who viewed the building as postmodern, like Nikolaus Pevsner, were against the designing of the building. There was conflict between creators of mass consumer culture and those who had believed that it was all wrong in the modern world. The conflict over an imperial London was great at that time. Despite this situation, most owners of buildings had adopted the consumer culture and could not be stopped putting up the buildings. Many buildings were, therefore, structured.

The institution was surrounded by political issues such as the debate whether to adopt an imperial London or not. Geared by the economic situations in the region, the owner, Arthur Lusenby had a reason to start the business. According to Harris (2011), two relentless forces arose in the 1980s; high technology and competitive global economy, that changed workplaces forever. Interior architects found themselves designing for an exceptionally wide variety of workplace programs. The interior of many offices and stores has never been less standardized.

Figure 5: Free movement in Liberty stores (Liberty, 2014)

Cultural and social factors also contribute to the structuring of buildings. For example, wood frame construction has been used to build private residences and public buildings in North America, because of the availability of lumber from extensive forests (Binggeli, 2011). Light frames are also common to many cultures. In relation to this, it could be the main reason that Liberty building was structured using wood, as in the case of wood balconies, because the owner wanted to create a homey feel for his customers. The social factor that influenced the building was the need to have fashion, especially for women, like jewelry and fabric clothes. The London community had advanced economy, thus the growth of the community socially. The owner, Arthur Lusenby Liberty, developed good relationship with top English designers, who were key figures in the Arts and Craft and Art Nouveau movements. The building took the Tudor Revival, Arts and Craft architectural design, fitting into the broader architectural history at that time.

According to Binggeli (2011), wood recycled from local building at the end of their useful life adds value to the design’s local character. The wood is refurbished and re-used in the structuring of a building. The Liberty building used some of the refurbished wood in its design. Therefore, the richness of the building was highly improved. Other materials that can be re-used include brick and stone. Used brick is valued as a sustainable building resource. It makes the building stronger and last longer. The building enjoyed the natural heritage, such as good landscape and landform, and availability of natural resources like clay for making bricks, timber and stone. It also enjoyed the cultural heritage such as the physical artifacts that were used by designers to design the interior of the building. Many designers were encouraged to practice in the interior designing of the building, thus the improved appearance of the interior as shown in figure 4.

The social function of a building determines the design of the building, both interior and exterior. The liberty building had the function of bringing the community together as they shop from the department stores, at the same time enforcing the social power of the state. Since everything is bound to change, it is paramount to consider that the needs of customers and clients change. A company should continuously re-study and adapt its workplace to the changing technology, wok patterns and challenges that face that particular business (Forsyth & White, 2011). The interior project team should, therefore, understand the business evolution and create designs that will improve client’s business performance, as well as meet its business goals. If a building is poorly designed, it can fail to adapt to the changes in technology or customers’ needs that are bound to occur.

The quality of a business sums the attributes that help in satisfying needs, including how individual attributes are related, balanced and incorporated in the whole building and the surroundings (Shiner, 2011). The aesthetic experience of architecture is not only based on contemplation of the visual form, but it also involves the textures and sounds that determine how a building feel as people move through ited to compliment each other in any building. The designers should, therefore, design with the goal of winning the customers or the intended clients. It helps in improving the surrounding environment, and improves the living standards of the community because of the improved social amenities, like infrastructure and shopping malls.

In conclusion, the interior design of a building displays a lot about its social function, as displayed in the Liberty Department Stores. It shows the activities intended to be carried out in the building. Good transitions are required in order to avoid monotony along spaces sequence and help in the creation of spatial aesthetics. It is important, therefore, to carry out detailed study before structuring any building, to help meet its intended goals perfectly. The exterior of a building should also be designed to impress, like the Liberty building. Many people are attractedby the visual impression as it is the nature of human beings. Splendid entrance carry some weight, expressing a certain meaning (Reichel & Schultz, 2010). Entrance also connects the indoors to the outdoors, it should be visible to the public as a form of advertising the building.

References

Binggeli, C. (2011). Building systems for interior designers. Hoboken, NJ: John Willey & Sons.

Calson, L., Holscher, C., Shipley, T., and Dalton, R. (2010). Getting lost in buildings. Current Directions in Psychological Science 19 (5) 284-289.

Forsyth, M. & White, L., (2011). Interior finishes and fittings for historic building conservation. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & sons.

Harris, A. (2011). Miracle on Regent Street. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc.

Reichel, A. & Schultz K. (2010). Open/close: windows,doors, gates, loggias, filters. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhauser Verlag AG publisher.

Shinner, L. (2011). On aesthetics and function in architecture: the case of the “Spectacle” Art Museum. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 69(1) 34-41.

“A view on cities” (2014). London: Liberty of London. Retrieved from: www.aviewoncities.com/london/liberty.htm. August 33rd, 2014.

Liberty (2014). About us: our history. Retrieved from: http://www.liberty.co.uk/AboutLiberty/article/fcp-content. August 3, 2014.

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