Carreras Cigarette Factory

Carreras Factory
Modern view of the front of the building with two restored black cats
The black cats on guard in front of the building
Map
Alternative namesArcadia Works
Greater London House
The Black Cat Factory
General information
TypeFormer cigarette factory converted for office use
Architectural styleArt Deco Egyptian Revival
LocationMornington Crescent, Camden Town
AddressGreater London House, 180 Hampstead Road, London NW1 7AW
Town or cityLondon
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°32′01″N 0°08′23″W / 51.5335°N 0.1398°W / 51.5335; -0.1398
Current tenantsBritish Heart Foundation, ASOS.com, Wunderman Thompson, WPP, Radley & Co and others
Construction started1926
Completed1928
Renovated1996
Design and construction
Architect(s)M. E. Collins, O. H. Collins & A. G. Porri
Renovating team
Renovating firmFinch Forman
Awards and prizesCivic Trust Award

The Carreras Cigarette Factory is a large art deco building in Camden, London, England. It is noted as a striking example of early 20th Century Egyptian Revival architecture. The building was erected in 1926–28 by the Carreras Tobacco Company owned by the Russian-Jewish inventor and philanthropist Bernhard Baron on the communal garden area of Mornington Crescent, to a design by architects M. E. and O. H. Collins and A. G. Porri. It is 550 feet (168 metres) long, and is mainly white.

The building's distinctive Egyptian-style ornamentation originally included a solar disc to the Sun-god Ra, two gigantic effigies of black cats flanking the entrance and colourful painted details. When the factory was converted into offices in 1961 the Egyptian detailing was lost, but it was restored during a renovation in the late 1990s, and replicas of the cats were placed outside the entrance.[1]

The building is located at the northern end of Hampstead Road and faces out over Harrington Square.

  1. ^ "Carreras Cigarette Factory". Art Deco buildings in London. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 12 February 2011.