From the collections of Cork City and County Archives Service.
Chillingworth & Levie was an important architectural firm in Cork from the early to late twentieth century. A collection of nearly 4,000 drawings was acquired by the Cork Archives in 1988 with the assistance of Crawford Art Gallery. A treasure trove of illustrations, including some of Cork’s favourite buildings, the collection is nonetheless incomplete, comprising largely unlabelled drawings which were not intended for presentation. The archive catalogue was published in 2010, paving the way for this exhibition which seeks to highlight this wonderful resource and the creative process of architecture. The variety of commissions reflects the fortunes and concerns of the city and its people for over half a century. The Irish Architectural Archive’s Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940 lists up to 200 works that the firm was responsible for, however, not all of these feature amongst the housing, commercial and industrial projects in the collection.
Curated by
G
Louise Harrington Architectural & Landscape Historian
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
A New Architectural
Partnership for Cork
Chillingworth & Levie was established in 1911, arising out a partnership between a Cork engineer, Robert Boyle Chillingworth (1878-1916) of Rochestown, and Daniel Andrew Levie (1875-1963), a Scottish architect from Aberdeen. The two men met in the offices of W. H. Hill & Son Architects in 1903 - a time when the practice was busy with significant housing commissions in the College Road, Gillabbey Street and Douglas Road areas. Indeed, the estate of nearly £13,000 left by its founder W. H. Hill (b.1837) in 1911 is testament to the huge commercial success
of the practice which counted the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Cork Lunatic Asylum Board and the Cork Improved Dwellings Company amongst its clients. Sadly, Robert Boyle Chillingworth died of tuberculosis in 1917, believed to be contracted while working on inspections for the Congested Districts Board. However, the new firm retained his name in the title. John E. Wilkinson (fl.1929-1972), an architect from Cork,
Portrait of Robert Boyle Chillingworth taken from Pike’s Contemporary Biographies section of Hodges 1911 Cork and County Cork in the Twentieth Century, courtesy Cork City Libraries
Portrait of W. H. Hill taken from Pike’s Contemporary Biographies section of Hogdges 1911 Cork and County Cork in the Twentieth Century, courtesy Cork City Libraries
became a partner in the firm in 1929. He carried on the practice after Daniel Levie’s death in 1963. The firm was handed over in c.1972 to William Macilwraith (b.1931) and continued until his death in 1994. Levie’s brother John Begg Levie (1877-1957) worked briefly with Chillingworth & Levie before establishing himself in Dublin in 1930. The company’s offices were based at 11 South Mall for the period under consideration. ‘Woodville’, Rochestown, Co. Cork, the home of the Chillingworth Family, courtesy the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH)
The original business plaque of Chillingworth & Levie from 11 South Mall, Cork, Courtesy the MacIlwraith Family
When Daniel Levie came to Ireland at the turn of the nineteenth century, Cork was a fine commercial centre with an impressive array of department and other stores that sold many locally manufactured consumer goods. A handsome city with fine Georgian terraces and distinctive Victorian buildings, Cork retained its askew t-plan with an initial suburban expansion to the east, but featured significant overcrowding and inadequate housing in its historic core. The resolution of this issue was to form an important part of the work of Chillingworth & Levie. The merchant community, comprising Anglicans, Quakers, Presbyterians, Catholics and Methodists, that created the wealth of the city had remained essentially the same for nearly 150 years. Robert Chillingworth’s family was a part of that community and although an immigrant, as a Scots Presbyterian, Daniel Levie would have had little difficulty in integrating with middle class society of the time. The networks and ties afforded by this group were to
John Bartholomew’s map of Cork City, 1903, taken from The survey gazeteer of the British Isles, courtesy Cork City Libraries
prove critical to the development of the practice.
View of Patrick Street, Cork, c. 1900, from the Wilkie Collection of the Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
The Last of Empire
The earliest project in the collection is a house design in Howth, Co. Dublin, for Robert Chillingworth’s brother which shows some influence of the Arts and
Crafts Movement with its simple form, steeply pitched roof, wide eaves, block and start entrance- surround and multi-paned windows. This was to be the first of many private house commissions undertaken by the firm. Two stalwarts of the Cork business community provided the firm’s major commissions in the decade before independence. The first of these was for Dwyer and Co. Ltd which was founded in the 19th century with a large shop on Great George’s (Washington) Street and which subsequently developed the Lee Boot Manufacturing Company. In 1914 Chillingworth & Levie designed a warehouse building for the boot factory on
Front elevation, Howth House, ink on glazed linen, Chillingworth & Levie, 1911, 59 x 39cm, Cork City and County Archives
Hanover Street. The proposed elevation shows elements of industrial functionalism in the window design, plain exterior and open floor plans. Ultimately, this was not built although elements of that design were incorporated into the new boot factory on Washington Street West, built in 1919 which also has a twelve-bay arrangement and strong horizontal emphasis.
Proposed front elevation, ink on paper, Dwyer’s Factory, Chillingworth & Levie, 1914, 53 x 34cm, Cork City and County Archives
The Counting House, built for the Beamish & Crawford Brewery on South Main Street, is undoubtedly the most significant project for the
Square Deal (the former Lee Boot Factory), Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, courtesy the NIAH
company in the period pre-Independence. The street frontage on South Main Street had been cleared and a new elevation was required to front the brewery which had been previously hidden. With a nod to the Edwardian era ended by World War I, the 1919 design features attractive half-timbering, jettied first and second floors in the Tudor Revival style, flanked by crow-stepped gables with Tudor-style windows and hood mouldings. The qualities of the Tudor style are continued internally with fine timber panelled walls, an ornate timber fireplace and decorative stairs. While arguably a façade in its extent, the
The former Beamish and Crawford Brewery Offices, South Main Street, Cork, Chillingworth & Levie, photograph taken by Louise Harrington
Advert for the House of Dwyer, Guy’s City and County Cork Almanac and Directory for 1940, Cork City and County Archives
Counting House nonetheless forms an important part of the architectural legacy of the Beamish & Crawford families to the city which includes the Crawford Art Gallery (former Crawford Schools of Science & Art, 1888), CIT Crawford College of Art & Design (former Crawford Municipal Technical Institute, 1909), former brewery stables, Bishop Street (1902), as well as support for the
Proposed gate option for the Beamish and Crawford Brewery Offices, pencil and watercolour on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 67 x 49cm, Cork City and County Archives
building of St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral (1862-1912).
This prestigious commission is likely to have arisen from the projects completed for the brewery in 1918. These were the Oval Bar, opposite the Counting House, and another public house on Albert Street which is now the Sextant. The Oval Bar has remained very much intact from its original construction and conserves one of a small number of original bar counters in the said oval plan. Again preserving a historic style used in the
Detail of ‘Proposed additions and alterations to the premises of Messrs Beamish & Crawford Ltd, Cork’, ink on paper Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 102 x 68cm, Cork City and County Archives
Edwardian era, the Scots Baronial-style of the elevation may be seen in the uneven roofline, crow- stepped chimney gable, corner turret and tripartite
The Oval Bar, South Main Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
windows with block surrounds – probable references to Daniel Levie’s Scottish origins.
Interior of the Oval Bar, South Main Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
Advert for Beamish & Crawford Ltd, Guy’s City and County Cork Almanac and Directory for 1940, Cork City and County Archives
Elevation and perspective of bar option for the Oval Bar, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1918, 41 x 29cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
Rebuilding
after the Burning
Postcard showing the junction of Patrick Street and Winthrop Street after the burning in December 1920, Tivy Collection, Cork City and County Archives
The burning of Cork in December 1920, including its main thoroughfare and municipal buildings, was a major event in Ireland’s struggle for independence. Today, the rebuilt city hall, library and a considerable proportion of Patrick Street are a physical testament to significant moments in national and international history. An entirely unintended consequence of the destruction and vandalism wrecked on the city was a local building boom funded by the resultant compensation scheme. Chillingworth & Levie worked on at least four of the ‘reconstructions’ that revamped the appearance of Patrick Street, including Roches Stores. Subsequently, the impact of the new buildings gave impetus to other retailers to upgrade and improve their own premises.
Postcard showing the site of Roches Stores after the burning in
December 1920, Tivy Collection, Cork City and County Archives
The designers of most of the reconstructed shops worked to an elevation that read as three levels in ground/shop front level, main upper level comprising two storeys enclosed
by vertical elements and completed by a smaller attic storey. Henry Hill’s elegant design for Cash’s epitomises this classical balance whereas Roches Stores is altogether brasher with an eclectic mix of Classical references, extended modern glazing and striking copper dome.
From its relatively modest beginnings as a warehouse on Merchant Street, running parallel to Maylor Street, Roches Stores emerged as the largest department store in Cork after 1926. The aspirations of the store may be seen in its ‘bigger and better’ reincarnation, along with the
Sketch drawing of the front elevation of Roches Stores, Patrick Street, pencil and pastel on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924-26, 58 x 46cm, Cork City and County Archives
Brown Thomas (the former Cash’s, Patrick Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
use of a variety of specialist shop-outfitters from England. These included the Marble Mosaic Co. Ltd (still in existence) for the
new terrazzo floor whose other commissions included the Dorchester Hotel in London; Frederick Sage & Co., London, shop fitters who
Debenhams (the former Roches Stores), Patrick Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
counted Harrods and Selfridges amongst their clients; and W. McFarlane & Co. Ltd, Glasgow, who designed the steel windows and also completed work for major department stores in the UK. Every detail of the new shop from lighting to stair balustrades, lifts and shelving to lettering was specified and agreed in drawings. Roches Stores continued to be a client of the practice until at least 1941 when an air-raid shelter for workers and customers was designed for the premises during the World War II.
Wrought iron balustrade to main staircase detail, Roches Stores, Cork, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924-26, 37 x 37cm, Cork City and County Archives
Agreed terrazzo detailing with the Marble Mosaic Company for Roches Stores, Cork, pencil and ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924-26, 68 x 50cm, Cork City and County Archives
Porch details for Roches Stores, Cork, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924-26, 45 x 48cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
Shopping in Style
34 Patrick Street with its return onto Cook Street, was also designed by Chillingworth & Levie and completed the block-
composition of the Munster Arcade, Egan’s and Forrest & Sons. It was to become one of the major reconstructed blocks on the street after the burning. This block also reads as three levels with a prominent balustraded parapet and shared levels amongst the adjacent buildings. The fine stone finishes, height and design of the reconstructions changed the face of Patrick Street dramatically in the space of five years, bringing it firmly on trend with 20th century shopping fashion. In addition to rebuilding 21 Winthrop Street, Chillingworth & Levie also the designed the Winthrop Street Arcade a rare example of an early shopping arcade with 14 units between 1924 and 1926, however, none of the drawings for this scheme are represented in the collection. Retail projects make up a significant proportion of work of the firm. Even in the depths of the 1930’s and ‘40’s recession, the firm was kept afloat with innumerable minor commissions for shop front alterations and internal modifications. An earlier example of this type of work was for Byford & Co. of 38 Patrick Street where a new shop front with internal layout changes was required in 1918. At that time the style of shop front, lettering and logo were Elevation to Cook Street, 34 Patrick Street & 1, 2 & 3 Cook Street, Cork, Chillingworth & Levie, 1925, 65 x 39cm, Cork City and County Archives
Front elevation, 21 Winthrop Street, Cork, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1918- 24, 23 x 24cm, Cork City and County Archives
Shop front, Byford’s premises, Patrick Street, Cork, ink and pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1918, 50 x 50cm, Cork City and County Archives
quite individual and were a component of the architect’s design brief.
The Queen’s Old Castle was established as a department store in the 1830’s and was one of the most popular shops in Cork. In 1927, Chillingworth & Levie were engaged to alter the existing shop front. Working with a pre-existing building the architects prepared a number of options with different treatments such as a staggered Art Deco-style parapet and a first floor of decorative round-headed windows, reminiscent of Venice. Each option had an extended single shop front contained within a slim metal framework. The façade as built was quite different with a temple-like portico bearing no relation to the proportion and style of the first floor windows and balustraded parapet. The result was striking nonetheless and reinforced the impressive retail character of the city at the period. Frederick Sage & Co., London, also provided drawings for the fitting of the shop.
Former Queen’s Old Castle, Grand Parade, Cork, Courtesy the NIAH
Proposed alterations to the Queen’s Old Castle, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924-27, 56 x 66cm, Cork City and County Archives
Detail of proposed improvements to the Queen’s Old Castle, Cork, ink on glazed linen, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924, 62 x 52cm, Cork City and County Archives
Proposed shop front, pencil on tracing paper, E. Pollard & Co. Ltd, Shop Fitters, 1924-27, 61 x 59cm, Cork City and County Archives
Proposed front elevation, the Queen’s Old Castle, Cork, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1924- 27, 52 x 47cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
Better Housing
In the late nineteenth century Ireland had some of the worst housing conditions in Europe. The Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement Acts, 1875 and 1879,
offered loans to urban local authorities to clear slum areas for new houses, while the 1890 Housing Act allowed them to build houses on green field sites for the first time. Cork Corporation together with the philanthropic Improved Dwellings Company provided nearly 1,000 units of workers housing.
However, the relatively high rent on these houses proved prohibitive to the neediest and by 1900 much of the population still lived in slums. Twenty-five years later, the Cork Civic Survey noted that nearly one fifth of the city, 16,000 people, lived in unhealthy conditions. 3,000 families lived in over 700 tenements, proportionally comparable with Dublin and some of the worst-affected industrial cities in England.
Photograph of poor housing in Margaret Place, c.1900, Courtesy Cork City Libraries
Under the 1908 Clancy Act, Chillingworth & Levie developed three
Annotated front and rear elevations with sections of ‘Proposed Cottages on Town Wall Site’, Youghal, ink on glazed linen, Chillingworth & Levie, 1914, 76 x 43cm, Cork City and County Archives
small housing schemes of ‘working class dwellings’ and cottages for Youghal UDC in 1914. One terrace of eight was built as designed on a site near the town wall. A second terrace of eight semi-detached houses was modified to a terrace of eight on Raheen Road. The third was never built. All the houses had gardens with earth closets to the rear. An interesting comparison with these public designs are the proposals for Queenstown Dry Docks Company cottages, begun nearly five years later as subsidised workers’ housing. The terrace as built comprised five houses of three bedrooms each with an upstairs bathroom but without a garden.
‘Housing Map’, indicating the location of dilapidated housing from the Cork Civic Survey, 1926, Courtesy Cork City Libraries
The Cork Civic Survey, published 1926, was the city’s first major town planning document. It was written by the Cork Town Planning Association,
created in 1913, with the advice of Professor Patrick Abercrombie (1879-1957), University of Liverpool. It counted D. J. Coakley (1885-1951), Town Planner and Principal of Cork School of Commerce, 1908-1944, as its secretary, John F. Delaney (1872-1942), City Engineer and Architect, 1903-1924, and Daniel Levie
amongst the seven-member technical sub- committee who worked on the project. The survey was presented to Town Commissioner Philip Monahan (1893-1972).
Title page of the Cork Civic Survey, 1926, Courtesy Cork City Libraries
View of the city taken from the Churchfield/Gurranebraher area before it was developed for housing, c.1900, taken from the Cork Civic Survey, courtesy Cork City Libraries
Sketch plans of ‘Proposed Cottages at Rushbrooke for Queenstown Dry Docks Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd.’, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 44 x 31cm, Cork City and County Archives
Plan elevation and sections of ‘Proposed Cottages at Rushbrooke for Queenstown Dry Dock, Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd.’, ink on paper copy, Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 76 x 56cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
Better Housing
In the aftermath of independence, the first Free-State government (1922- 1932) and the subsequent Fianna Fáil (1932-1948) governments led the drive to improve housing post-independence with the implementation of the 1924 and 1931-32 Housing Acts. Furthermore, compensation allocated for the rebuilding of the City Hall, was diverted to housing as well as the building of the College of Commerce and the creation of the Lee Baths. The first major housing scheme to be built was on Capwell Road in 1926. It provided c.150 houses and
88-93 Capwell Road, Cork, Chillingworth & Levie, 1926, photograph by Louise Harrington
was recorded as a Chillingworth & Levie commission by both The Irish Builder and Architect & Building News. The layout shows the influence of the garden city movement with private lawns and terraces arranged radially and accessed by wide roads. Chillingworth & Levie are also credited with the Evergreen Road and Turner’s Cross housing scheme of approximately 300 houses, built between 1928 and 1930. There is only one layout drawing for this project in the archive collection. Outside the city, The Irish Builder records a commission of 28 terraced houses (probably Sarsfield’s Terrace) for Youghal UDC in 1936, as well a significant project of 82 houses in Mallow (Glenanaar and Fair Street area).
69 Upper Friar’s Road, Turner’s Cross, Cork, Chillingworth & Levie, 1928-30, photograph taken by Louise Harrington
First page of brochure with front elevation of proposed bungalow for Mr Maynard, ink and pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1913, 23 x 21cm, Cork City and County Archives
Church of the Ascension, Cathedral Road, Cork, with 1930’s Corporation housing in the
Today, this 1930’s house-type is very familiar to us but when it emerged it would have appeared quite different. Uniformity of design and details such as
Second page of brochure with ground floor plan of proposed bungalow for Mr Maynard, ink and pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1913, 23 x 20cm, Cork City and County Archives
foreground, courtesy the NIAH
projecting gable-ends to terraces often disguised the modest size of houses and humble finishes. Above all else, however, it improved the living
conditions of many families.
The volume of social and subsidised housing undertaken by the firm from its foundation to the 1930’s is significant but Chillingworth & Levie were also prominent private-house architects. Customised brochures were created for private clients with watercolours and attractive landscaping to the elevations. Two early brochures from 1913 are preserved in the collection. One is for a bungalow with veranda and large overhanging eaves while the other illustrates a larger three- storey house on split levels with oriel windows and high chimneys. A later 1930’s brochure created for Mrs Holland shows
subtle changes in style with a move towards more Art Deco motifs. In 1929, the firm also completed a terrace of three-bedroomed private houses with bay windows at Wallace’s Avenue for Meagher & Hayes builders.
First page of brochure with garden elevation of unidentified house, ink and pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1913, 20 x 23cm, Cork City and County Archives
Approved drawings for ‘Proposed Houses at Wallaces Avenue, Cork for Meagher Hayes & Co. Ltd’, ink on paper copy, Chillingworth & Levie, 1929, 62 x 48cm, Cork City and County Archives
Sketch drawing of front elevation entitled ‘Sketch shewing Trellis Work at Residence of H. Bradfield’, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1933, 26 x 18cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
The Picture Palace and Silver Screen
A truly modern and egalitarian entertainment for the masses, the technology of cinema spread easily and rapidly around the world. The first moving picture was seen in Cork at the Opera
House in 1896.* By 1950, Cork had nine cinemas and another four venues that regularly showed films. Chillingworth & Levie appear to have been a popular choice for cinema developers as the firm designed five (including one in both Mallow and Youghal), remodelled the screen of two and may have been the site-architects for the finest, the Savoy. While the Coliseum was the first purpose-built cinema in Cork, Chillingworth & Levie designed the city’s second and third cinemas in 1919 and 1920. The Washington Cinema on Great George’s Street (Washington Street) was created in the style of a theatre with its stage, gallery and gangways. In 1920 the Bellevue Cinema on Military Hill was laid out in a similar plan and classical garlands decorated the interior of both. Plans to place a projection in the front wall, containing the operator’s room, were omitted in the final construction of the Bellevue.
Photograph of the Coliseum Cinema, Cork, c. 1930, Courtesy Michael Lenihan
‘Sketch for proposed cinema to be erected in Great George’s Street’, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 64 x 40cm, Cork City and County Archives
In 1930, the Opera House again led the way in presenting the first ‘talkie’. The arrival of sound brought with it opportunities for refurbishments to accommodate new
equipment in cinemas and film venues. However, it was the opening of the Savoy on Patrick Street in May 1932 that set a new standard for cinema design in the city and introduced Art Deco style to Cork.
‘Proposed Cinema Theatre, Military Hill, for M. Prendergast. Esq.’, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1920, 65 x 50cm, Cork City and County Archives
During the interwar period cinema exemplified Art Deco. Along the high street, cinemas appeared with their ultra-modern façades regularly
characterised by the contrast of block-like vertical and horizontal planes with projecting canopies and lengthy vertical signs (gone was the traditional articulation of floors and windows). Linear and zigzag mouldings wrapped around surfaces in metal, enamel and faience. Glamorous interiors were created by an opulent mix of shiny surfaces and exaggerated motifs from Egyptian and Classical ornamentation
Front elevation detail of ‘Proposed Cinema St. Patrick Street Cork for Associated Irish Cinemas Ltd.’, ink on drafting linen, Moore & Crabtree Architects, 1931, 99 x 49cm, Cork City and County Archives
The Savoy Centre, Patrick Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
and American Indian iconography. With names like the Ritz, Carlton, Savoy, Regal, Trocadero, Odeon, Adelphi and Luxor, and their exclusive or exotic references, cinemas buildings were a visual escape from
the realities of the economic depression of the time.
*For information on Cork cinema history see TheGolden Age of Cork Cinema by John McSweeney (2003 &2013)
Proscenium detail of ‘Proposed Alterations & Additions to the Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork’, ink on glazed linen paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1932, 67 x 48cm, Cork City and County Archives
Detail of ‘Ground Floor Plan, Proposed Cinema St. Patrick Street Cork for Associated Irish Cinemas Ltd.’, ink on drafting linen, , Moore & Crabtree Architects, 1931, 99 x 49cm, Cork City and County Archives
Proscenium detail of ‘Proposed Alterations & Additions to the Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork’, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1932, 76 x 54cm, Cork City and County Archives
The Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
The Picture Palace and Silver Screen
Moore & Crabtree, a firm of architects from Bradford, designed the Savoy cinema in 1931. The Cork Examiner records the opening of the cinema in 1932 in a wonderful piece printed the following day. The article captured the escapism a visit to the picture house afforded as it described the interior’s atmosphere ‘which entirely lifts one from the dull, grey cares of the daily round to the realms of romance, colour and sunshine of northern Italy’ … and … ‘where luxurious lounges tempt one to regret even their best friends have arrived’ (CE, 13 May, 1932).
Schematic sketch for the front elevation of the proposed Ritz Cinema, Washington Street, Cork, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1939, 31 x 45cm, Cork City and County Archive
Sketch of the front elevation of the proposed Ritz Cinema, Washington Street, Cork, pencil and ink on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1939, 28 x 47cm, Cork City and County Archive
While drawings for the Savoy are contained in the archive collection, including three that were referred
to the City Engineer’s office, there is no other record of Chillingworth & Levie’s involvement with the scheme. For this reason it can only be speculated that they may have had a local site role on behalf of the architects based in England. The impact of the project is certainly evident in firm’s concurrent and subsequent proposals for the new proscenium of the Assembly Rooms (April 1932), and the Ritz Cinema, Washington Street (1939).
A series of rough sketches indicate that a number of options were considered for the front of the Ritz Cinema which was built after the original Washington burnt down in 1938. The sketches deal with the handling of the façade which encompassed two buildings after the adjacent structure was also damaged. The influence of the Savoy design is seen in the creation of a central vertical panel, two levels high. This panel is enclosed variously by vertical side panels or pilasters and shares some of the Savoy’s detailing. Ultimately, the façade as built lacked the critical refinements of the original concept.
Schematic sketch for the front elevation of the proposed Ritz Cinema, Washington Street, Cork, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1939, 29 x 46cm, Cork City and County Archive
The former Regal Cinema, South Main Street, Youghal, Courtesy the NIAH
In 1935 Chillingworth & Levie brought Art Deco to the county with their design for the Regal Cinema, Youghal. An essentially two-storey building, the cinema makes a bold statement on the street with the interplay of its component structures. This may be seen in the projection of curved wings, receding steps to the canopied entrance at ground floor and the stepped arrangement of the parapet.
Sketch of the front elevation of the proposed Ritz Cinema, Washington Street, Cork, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1939, 33 x 46cm, Cork City and County Archive
‘Elevation showing treatment of proscenium’, Regal Cinema, Youghal, pencil on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1935, 77 x 72cm, Cork City and County Archives
Front elevation of ‘Proposed Cinema at Youghal for R. Hurst Esq, Suggestion No. 2’, ink, pastel and pencil on paper, 45 x29cm, Cork City and County Archives
Revised sketch of ground floor plan, Regal Cinema, Youghal, pencil and ink on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1935, 25 x 47cm, Cork City and County Archives
- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
Industrial Buildings
The industrial commissions of Chillingworth & Levie are amongst the strongest examples of their modernist work. In 1932 the firm designed an extension on Oliver Plunkett Street for Eagle Printers, one of the larger Cork printers based on South Mall. The proposal comprised four storeys with horizontal bands
of multi-paned glazing, punctuated by vertical panels to the chamfered corner and side, with a play on the company name in the signs and flagpole crest. This scheme was never built. However, when an entirely new factory was required on the opposite site in 1950, it was based on the earlier design with horizontal bands of glazing and parapet on a block that is wrapped around a corner.
Detail of the front elevation to Smith Street, working drawings for Eagle Printers, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1932, 67 x 50cm, Cork City and County Archives
One of the firm’s most attractive buildings is the former National Flour Mills on Kennedy Quay. The three-storey
Detail of front elevation of Odlums (former National Flour Mills), Kennedy Quay, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
base was designed by James F. McMullen (1859-1933) as a grain store in 1892. In 1934 Chillingworth & Levie were commissioned to convert and extend the building for a new mill.
The glazed upper section was added to the original stores, with an audaciously contrasting style, where the ratio of solid wall to void glass is inverted. Yet there is also continuity in the use of a dividing pilaster through both levels. The stylized wheat reliefs of the central section, the separating bands of limestone, and the use of brick strips to highlight the corner and central areas are noteworthy.
Rear and side elevation of AXA (former Eagle Printers) built 1950, Oliver Plunkett Street and Smith Street, Cork, photograph taken by Louise Harrington
Detail of postcard of the National Flour Mills, Victoria Quay, during World War II, Cork City and County Archives
Blackwater Cottons, Youghal, built in 1952, is quite different in its treatment to either the mills or the printing works. The building comprises a two-storey Art Deco front and a large production area to the rear with a saw-tooth roof. The two sections of the façade intersect at a tripartite entrance in three separate blocks of one, one-and-a-half and two storeys. The contrasting upright and curved bands give the Art Deco quality to the entrance which also features a low-relief sculpture by Seamus Murphy (1907-1975). The factory was established by William Dwyer, the founder of Sunbeam & Wolsey Textiles who came from the great family of Cork drapers and manufacturers.
Detail of the upper level corner of the Odlums Mills (former National Flour Mills), courtesy the NIAH
Photograph of ‘a lady working at Silkhose’ at the Sunbeam and Wolsey Factory, Cork, Cork City and County Archives
Detail of front elevation to the former Blackwater Cottons Factory, Youghal, photograph taken by Louise Harrington
Advert for the National Flour Mills, Guy’s City and County Cork Almanac and Directory for 1940, Cork City and County Archives
Entrance to the former Blackwater Cottons Factory, Youghal, photograph taken by Louise Harrington
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