page_title: North Watford
section_title: Landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: North Watford / Landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: Hille House, 124-132 St Albans Road, Watford, designed by Ernő Goldfinger in 1959. The front of the building features a cantilevered concrete box glazed with brightly coloured glass (bottom left, obscured by an estate agent's hoarding), a signature of Goldfinger's design and the first of his buildings to have this feature.
context_page_description: North Watford is an area in the town of Watford, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is primarily a residential area which developed as a result of expansion from the town during the 19th century.
context_section_description: The most prominent landmark building in North Watford is the former printworks of Odhams Press, a large brick and concrete structure which was built in 1954 to the designs of Yates, Cook & Darbyshire architects and modelled on the design of Stockholm City Hall. This building was an extension to an older printworks which had been built in 1937 by Sir Owen Williams. This locally listed building stands on the A41 North Western Avenue with its prominent clock tower overlooking the Dome Roundabout and it is still in use today as a print works. Its prominent clock tower houses a tank for holding water used during the printing process.
  Another locally listed building in North Watford is Christ Church, an Anglican church on St Albans Road. This distinctive red brick structure was designed in a semi-Italian Romanesque style by the architects John Hudson and John Hunt and is noted for its semicircular brick apse. The foundation stone for the Church was laid in 1904 by Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
  Opposite this church, at 124-132 St Albans Road, stands Hille House, the former offices of the furniture design firm Hille. This 1959 concrete office block has been locally listed as it is the work of the noted architect Ernő Goldfinger and an example of Brutalist architecture. The front of the building features a cantilevered concrete box glazed with brightly coloured glass, a signature of Goldfinger's design and the first of his buildings to have this feature. Behind this stands the former Wells Brewery (1890–1901). This was the premises of Wells Watford Brewery Ltd, a local beer brewing company. The brewery was taken over by Benskins Brewery in 1951 and closed in 1955.
  North Watford's connection with railway history can be seen in the Grade-II-listed Old Station House at 147A St Albans Road. This small, single-storey red-brick building was built 1836-7 as the original Watford Station when the first section of the London-Birmingham railway was opened, a rare surviving example of architecture from the beginning of the railway age. In the short period when the Dowager Queen Adelaide was resident at Cassiobury House (c. 1846-49), this station was remodelled to provide her with a royal waiting room. It was also reportedly used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on a trip to visit Sir Robert Peel in November 1843, when they travelled by road from Windsor Castle to take a train from Watford to Tamworth. It closed in 1858 when it was replaced by the new station at Watford Junction and today the building is occupied by a second-hand car dealership.
  The railway tunnel built under North Watford in 1837 is also a significant example of railway architecture, and the neoclassical stone entrance to the original western tunnel of the London & Birmingham Railway has been awarded Grade II listing
caption: Ernő Goldfinger's Hille House on St Albans Road (1959)
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