Orient House 65-66 Granby Row

Baroque. Rusticated base comprising the ground and first floors. Main order the next three floors with bay windows set between fluted Greek Ionic columns. Classical details in the key frieze, palmettes and even the cast iron lamp standards. Frontage White glazed faience,  Rear elevation - large windows set in unadorned glazed white brick

Orient House exhibits the greatest contrast between the elaborate public facade to Granby Row and the functional treatment of the side and rear elevations where there has been no attempt to disguise the framed construction To maximise natural lighting and to reduce costs, these elevations are a simple insertion of large metal windows into the grid pattern of the frame. The distinction between the public face and the unseen working areas was one which twentieth century architects were soon to reject. Rather, it was the belief that  buildings should uniformly reflect their internal function that was to develop in the inter-war period. Orient House thus represents the final stage of nineteenth century warehouse design. Ironically it was the unseen rear elevations which were the harbingers of things to come. [Jones: Industrial Architecture]

Reference      Jones Industrial Architecture