Brynmawr Rubber Factory
Encyclopedia
The Brynmawr Rubber Factory was a notable building situated in Brynmawr
in Wales
. It was designed between 1946 and 1951 by The Architect's Co-Op, a group of Architecture students from the AA in London, in collaboration with the Engineer Ove Arup
.
It was used for producing various rubber products (mainly tyres) and is considered by many as a Modernist
icon
.
The main production floor was spanned by nine huge concrete shell
domes which were punctuated by circular rooflights. Some of the outer sections of the factory were roofed with concrete barrel vault
ed shells.
The building was perhaps too ambitious and it was never a commercial success. Later in its life, it was owned by Dunlop
and used for manufacturing vinyl
flooring known as Semtex. Despite being a listed building, it was demolished in 2001.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1405628.stm.
Brynmawr
Brynmawr is a market town in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at 1,250 to 1,500 feet above sea level and nestled at the head of the South Wales Valleys...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It was designed between 1946 and 1951 by The Architect's Co-Op, a group of Architecture students from the AA in London, in collaboration with the Engineer Ove Arup
Ove Arup
Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE known as Ove Arup, was a leading Anglo-Danish engineer and generally considered to be one of the foremost architectural structural engineers of his time...
.
It was used for producing various rubber products (mainly tyres) and is considered by many as a Modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
.
The main production floor was spanned by nine huge concrete shell
Concrete shell
A concrete shell, also commonly called thin shell concrete structure, is a structure composed of a relatively thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses. The shells are most commonly flat plates and domes, but may also take the form of ellipsoids or cylindrical...
domes which were punctuated by circular rooflights. Some of the outer sections of the factory were roofed with concrete barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
ed shells.
The building was perhaps too ambitious and it was never a commercial success. Later in its life, it was owned by Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
and used for manufacturing vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
flooring known as Semtex. Despite being a listed building, it was demolished in 2001.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1405628.stm.