C O N T E X T 1 3 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 4 57 Book reviews The genius of Oriel Chambers In the Footsteps of Peter Ellis Robert Ainsworth and Graham Jones, Liverpool History Society, 2013, 228pp, extensively illustrated in black and white and colour, ISBN 978 0 9559428 3 9, £24, available from www.liverpoolhistorysociety.org.uk Peter Ellis was an architect and civil engineer in 19th century Liverpool, when the town was expanding rapidly, and at equal pace with its interconnected system of enclosed docks. The town’s wealth and prestige attracted major national architects, such as Charles Cockerell and Norman Shaw. Against a backdrop of these national figures and the scores of other architects who created Liverpool’s building stock during that period, the contributions of a ‘minor’ local architect such as Ellis could easily be overlooked, especially as only two of his buildings survive, and these were castigated on their completion. However, the two office buildings by Ellis, Oriel Chambers (1864) and 16 Cook Street (1868), are now recognised as international landmarks in building technology, representations of Liverpool’s commercially-driven spirit of innovation, and stylistically precursors of modernism. Oriel Chambers is listed Grade I and 16 Cook Street is Grade II*. Liverpool had pioneered the use of structural cast-iron frames for buildings: Rickman and Cragg built three cast-iron framed churches as early as 1812, Jesse Hartley built ironframed warehouses from 1846, and Cunningham used a cast-iron frame in the Liverpool Sailors’ Home of 1852. Despite their innovative structural interiors, these earlier buildings had conventional facades of brick or stone with traditional wall-to-window ratios. By contrast, Ellis radically increased the glass in his external facades to improve the level of natural light entering the buildings. The framing of fenestration was reduced to a hitherto unseen minimum and achieved an unprecedented simplicity. He also created one of the world’s first curtain-glazed walls on Oriel Chambers’ courtyard elevation. The two buildings were erected during the American Civil War, when a young John Root was in Liverpool. When Root returned to Chicago, he joined Daniel Burnham and they designed some of the world’s first skyscrapers, using the technology that he had seen in Liverpool. It is no coincidence that the circular staircase of Chicago’s The Rookery replicates the staircase at 16 Cook Street. Ellis’s ground-breaking structures were heavily criticised by the more conservative critics of the day. The Porcupine, a satirical Liverpool weekly, described Oriel Chambers as ‘a large agglomeration of protruding plateglass bubbles... this vast abortion… all is bad’. Over the years, the myth developed in Liverpool that Oriel Chambers and 16 Cook Street were Ellis’ only buildings, and that he was so shamed and hurt by these barbs that he never worked again. In the Footsteps of Peter Ellis sets the record straight, demonstrating that Ellis worked both before and after these two pioneering buildings. It is not primarily a book about architecture or architectural history. It is not even a biography of Ellis.What the book does spectacularly well is trace Ellis’s life in 19th-century Liverpool. It presents a clear picture of the town’s growth, its social pressures and procurement procedures. It highlights the architect’s spasmodic creativity and his inventions, including the world’s first (and patented) paternoster lift. This is all derived from meticulous primary research, Olympian referencing and notes, and an astounding wealth of contemporary illustrations. In the Footsteps of Peter Ellis entices the reader to trace the subject’s footsteps physically and to look at today’s city as a dynamic entity, constituted of layers of history rather than merely the immediate structures currently on view. John Hinchliffe, formerly Liverpool City Council’s world heritage officer, is the principal of Hinchliffe Heritage, based in Liverpool. Preaching to the converting Farm and Rural Building Conversions: a guide to conservation, sustainability and economy Carole Ryan, Crowood Press, 2013, 288pp, ISBN 978 1 847973 83 2, £30 This fulsomely illustrated hardback is a comprehensive handbook that will appeal to anyone owning a rural building or wishing to convert one to new uses. The author brings a lifetime’s work and expert knowledge to the subject. She has that rare combination of a deep understanding of historic buildings and their context, a technical knowledge of design and experience of the planning process. The book begins with a detailed section about the origins of farm buildings, their original purposes and why they tell us so much about the history of man’s occupation of the land. The author is clear that ancillary buildings are just as important as the main farmhouses and that without them the context can be irreversibly damaged. Reference to the rare straw
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=