Southbank House

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Southbank House, by Robert Stark Wilkinson
Formerly one of the Doulton Pottery Buildings
Black Prince Road, Vauxhall, Lambeth
London, September 2015

“Roger Dixon and Stefan Muthesius call the Doulton pottery complex, as it originally stood, ‘one of the most comprehensive commercial establishments in any city’ and, like Gavin Stamp, say that its slender 233' high factory chimney to the right was ‘a slim version of the campanile of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence’ (135). It is thought to have been suggested by Ruskin himself. These Thames-side buildings with their prominent give-away chimney were targeted in World War II, gutted during air raids and demolished in the 1950s. Royal Doulton moved its operations to Stoke-on-Trent in 1856. It is sad that most of Doulton's London pottery premises were lost, but lucky that at least one building remains to give us some idea of what an impressive landmark they must have made.” (Southbank House, The Victorian Web)