News / Broad Street
Art Nouveau façade restored to its original grandeur
A colourful façade in the Old City was the digital advertising billboard of its day.
Edward Everard’s Printing Works features an Art Nouveau tiled façade set back from its neighbours on historic Broad Street, with scaffolding recently removed to reveal the restored colours from 1900.
First and foremost, it is a brilliant advert for Everard’s business, but the frontage also tells the history of printing, with skilled marketer Everard writing himself into the centre of the story.
is needed now More than ever
The Everard building is set back from Broad Street – photo: Martin Booth
The art deco facade will be the future front door of Clayton Hotel – CGI: McAleer Rushe
The spirit of literature is represented in the centre, and on the gable is a female figure holding a lamp and mirror to symbolise light and truth.
Alongside William Morris, the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, and Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, Everard’s name can be found in an Art Nouveau typeface that he designed himself, above wrought iron gates which incorporate his initials.
The decorative ceramic tiles were made by Doulton’s and designed by the famous firm’s chief artist William James Neatby, who went on to design the tiles in Harrods food hall in 1903.
The façade was quite the welcome to Everard’s printing business, which once stretched back from Broad Street and behind neighbouring properties to another entrance on John Street.
Building work continues in the vacant 1970s office block surrounding the former printing works to create shops, bars, restaurants and flats as part of the Everards Printworks development.
The façade is due to become the grand entrance of the four-star Clayton Hotel, due to open in early 2022, with Everard’s name living on as a grand advertisement to stand the test of time.
Bristol24/7 Editor Martin Booth hosts walking tours of the Old City every weekend, exploring some of its quirkiest corners. For more information and to book, visit www.yuup.co/experiences/explore-bristol-s-quirkiest-corners. Use the code MBOOTH20 before the end of October to get 20 per cent off.
The facade is now almost back to its best – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Bristol’s history features in new Old City artworks
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