New Coventry Street
The formation of New Coventry Street in 1843–
1846 is described on pages 351–5. The south side
is now occupied by Fanum House and on the north
side, which was for many years occupied by a
ladies' department store, now stands the Swiss
Centre building.
No. 1 New Coventry Street: The Leicester Public House
Demolished
The Leicester public house (Plate 140a, 140b)
stood at the north-west corner of New Coventry
Street at the junction with Wardour Street. It
was erected in 1886–7 for Charles Best and
Company and demolished in 1927 for the expansion of Stagg and Russell's ladies' department
store. (ref. 300)
The Swiss Centre: New Coventry Street
The island site bounded by New Coventry
Street, Wardour Street, Lisle Street and Leicester
Street is now occupied by the Swiss Centre, a
large building comprising a podium and tower
block, designed by David du R. Aberdeen and
Partners, and erected in 1963–6 by the Token
Construction Company Limited.
Below ground level is a sub-basement, containing a garage, and a basement with a mezzanine floor, intended for a restaurant. The podium,
covering the entire site and having rounded
corners, contains three storeys of shops and
showrooms, with a core of lifts, staircases and
lavatories serving the tower. This last begins
with a storey allotted to engineering services and
foyers leading to the terrace roof-garden above
the podium, and the large circular salon for exhibitions that rises above the south-east corner. The
tower has eight floors of standard-height office
accommodation, and a lofty top storey containing
a penthouse, viewing gallery, and plant rooms.
The exterior is simple and elegant, the podium
transparent with large plate-glass shop windows
recessed below the cantilevered third storey,
which is faced with glazed grey bricks below a continuous clerestory. The exhibition salon is roofed
with a shallow saucer dome, and an advertising
mast forms a feature above the south-west corner.
The oblong tower has eight tiers of uniform metal
windows, each storey having twelve on the south
and north faces, and sixteen on the east and west.
These windows are set between aluminium
mullions and above floor-strings of silver-grey
granite. The penthouse storey is largely clad with
vertically ribbed aluminium sheeting. (ref. 405)