Michelin House

Yesterday I passed by this building, MichelinHouse at 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London. It was constructed as the first permanent UK headquarters and tyre depot for the Michelin Tyre Company Ltd. The building opened for business on 20 January 1911. It was designed by one of Michelin’s employees, François Espinasse. 

It is hard to define the architectural style of Michelin House. It was designed and built at the end of the Art-Nouveau period.  Despite this, Michelin House is very much like an Art-Deco building, the popular style of the 1930s with its prominent roadside position and its strong advertising images. In this respect, Michelin House is a building twenty years before its time.