Sunlight Chambers, Newcastle

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
LocationNewcastle upon Tyne
Coordinates54°58′17″N 1°36′48″W / 54.9713°N 1.6134°W / 54.9713; -1.6134
Built1901-2
Architectural style(s)Baroque
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated30 March 1987
Reference no.1116510
Sunlight Chambers, Newcastle is located in Tyne and Wear
Sunlight Chambers, Newcastle
Location of Sunlight Chambers in Tyne and Wear

History

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "SUNLIGHT CHAMBERS, Non Civil Parish - 1116510 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  2. ^ Jeannifer Filly Sumayku, Unilever: Providing Enjoyable and Meaningful Life to Customers[usurped][usurped], The President Post, 22 March 2010
  3. ^ "Newcastle, Bigg Market, Nos. 2 to 4, Sunlight Chambers". 26 May 2021.
  4. ^ "SUNLIGHT CHAMBERS, Non Civil Parish - 1116510 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  5. ^ "Sunlight Chambers, 20-21 Parliament Street, Essex Quay, Dublin 2, DUBLIN".