Mermaid -- Unilever House, Victoria Embankment, City of London, UK
N 51° 30.691 W 000° 06.288
30U E 700893 N 5710684
Mermaids adorn the Unilever Building on the Victoria Embankment
Waymark Code: WMRXQJ
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/18/2016
Views: 6
Unilever House was built in 1929 by British soap magnate Lord Leverhulme to house his Unilever Soap company headquarters. Among its decorations are carved relief figures of a mermaid and merman.
From Wikipedia: (
visit link)
"Unilever House
Unilever House is a Grade II listed office building in the Neoclassical Art Deco style, located on New Bridge Street, Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, London. The building has a tall, curving frontage which overlooks Blackfriars Bridge on the north bank of the River Thames.
The site of Unilever House was previously occupied by Bridewell Palace, a residence of Henry VIII, which later became a poorhouse and prison. These buildings were destroyed in 1864 making way for De Keyser's Royal Hotel. In 1920, Lord Leverhulme leased the site to build the London headquarters of his soap manufacturing company Lever Brothers, which became Unilever in 1930. Construction did not commence until 1929.
. . .
Architecture
The most striking aspect of the building is its enormous curving frontage along the Victoria Embankment, with its giant Ionic columns between the fourth and sixth floors. The heavily rusticated ground floor is windowless to reduce traffic noise inside the building. The corners are marked by entrances surmounted by large plinths on which are placed sculptures of human figures restraining horses (called Controlled Energy) by Sir William Reid Dick. Merman and mermaid figures are by Gilbert Ledward. The original lift cars were lined with art deco pewter panels designed by Eric Gill."