Fig.2 Thepink glazed brick boundarywall at therear (BedfordStreet)of theKingstoneStore. and a change in intention between late 1935 and late 1936 from green colouring to the pink actually used. No large scale fixing details are shown on the drawings. The Vitrolite sheets were secured top and bottom by copper strips and secured back to the wall by dabs of putty. Edges were simply butted to give a clean, sheer appearance. The drawings show details of the proposed shopfront including a marquise device for reflecting natural light from above the projecting canopy into the space of the shop window . At the time of listing in 1995, the Kingstone company were already concerned about the condition of the Vitrolite facing on the builcling. 2 It was evident from a street-level visual inspection that a number of the pink Vitrolite panels, as well as some of the black edging strips, were irreparably broken and had areas missing. The company were anxious about clanger to the public using the footway and it was clear that decisions had to be made about the repair of the curtain walling. There was also widespread rusting and deflection of the metal windows. The companyengagedJ MChamberlain and Son, builders of Leicester Forest East, and a dialogue with the City Council began about the options for repair. An initial idea to replace all the pink Vitrolite with an ICI Perspex product was soon replaced by a proposal to salvage and reuse as much of the Vitrolite as possible and to find a suitable replacement material to make up the shortfall. It was hoped at this stage to identify a modem source of pink Vitrolite oran eql1ivalent vitreous material. From the street itwas clearthatup to 12 of the 70 pink Vitrolite panels had parts missing. It was due to the care exercised by 10 Chamberlains that the eventual total number of sheets lost was as low as 14. The City Council undertook to try to source a replacement material and an initial enquiry to the East Midlands Team at English Heritage set in train a fascinating if frustrating process of telephone investigation. Susan Macdonald, then of the Architectural Conservation Team, responded with a compendium of information about Vitrolite and similar glass products under various trade names in the USAand Britain. Some of the American examples were used to produce spectacular examples of smooth Moclerne design, sometimes with a streamlined, curvilinear theme. Fascinating, and useful though this information was, a source of a suitable material still had to be founcl.3 • 4 The Twentieth Century Society also offered valuable advice and the search led the Council's Conservation Officer through the range of modern Pilkington products, the Pilkington museum at St Helens, Norman and Underwood, and various suppliers of vitreous products. The Twentieth Century Society recommended Adrian Hewitt of London-based Mo Deco who said that he dreamed of finding a supply of pink Vitrolite forgotten at the back of a warehouse somewhere, but alas the dream was so far unfulfilled. Suppliers of materials to hairdressing salons were suggested and tried. John Winter was contacted and gave enthusiastic moral support but knew of no modern supply of pink Vitrolite. Vitreous cladding materials are available in a limited range of colours including black, opal and pale green. A suitable product is made, for example, in the Czech Republic and imported by a limited range of British suppliers. But all enquiries stalled on ... you want what colour? For anyone faced with a similar problem, Rankins Glass Co Ltd of 24 Pearson Street, London E2 SJD,or T & W Ide of Glasshouse Fields, London El W 3JA,would be reasonable first stops but probably not for pink Vitrolite. So an application for listed building consent was submitted and decision time arrived. The specification involved the replacement of the steel window frames throughout exactly like for like. Polished glass fibre was proposed to replace the irreparable Vitrolite panels. The existing panels were carefully removed and stored, each one being numbered for replacement in its exact previous position. The method of fixing using copper strips and putty dabs was to be replicated as the panels were reinstated. The substitute panels were placed in the spaces left by the lost Vitrolite. Black Vitrolite strips to the edge of the fac;:adewere replaced in a modern black vitreous material. A condition on the listed building consent required the safe storage of the fragments of Vitrolite not replaced on the fac;:ade. Much depended on the quality of the replacement material and in terms of colour match and surface polish the glass fibre, made by Premier Glass Fibre Moulders of Oadby, Leicester, was remarkably close to the Vitrolite. The glass fibre panels were also made to the same thickness as the Vitrolite. The weathering qualities of the glass fibre remain to be tested in use. Ce1tainly it is more susceptible to scratching through surface impact than Vitrolite and ladders put up for cleaning could be a problem. In the end the result was visually convincing (Fig 1 shows the cladding after repair) and 80% of the original material was reused. Perhaps by the middle of the 21st century fashions in building materials will have changed again and a pink vitreous cladding material will be available for the next round of repair of a remarkable 20th century building. Michael Taylor was, until February 2000, Senior Building Conseroation Officer in the Urban Design Group at Leicester City Council. He is now Historic Areas Adviser with English Heritage West Midlands. References 1 McGrath, R: 'Glass in Architecture and Decoration' (Architectura I Press, 1937; reprinted 1961) 2 DNH listing description, 31 March 1995 3 Dyson, CJ: Structural Glass' in Jester, T C (Ed) 'Twentieth Century Building Materials: History and Conservation' (US National Park Service), pp 201-205 4 McKinley, R W: 'Spandrel Glass' in Jester, TC (Ed) 'Twentieth Century Building Materials: History and Conservation' (US National Park Service), pp 206-211 Context65March 2000
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