Gate, entrance gates to Firestone factory

An iron, bronze-painted Art Deco-style gate panel, formerly the entrance of the now demolished Firestone factory in Brentford, west London. Wallis, Gilberts & Partners built the factory in 1928. It was one of several built along Great West Avenue in the late 1920s. The road was London's main arterial route to the west and had been planned for many years. The first section opened in 1925 and was soon lined by showpiece modern factory buildings, many belonging to American firms.

The Firestone tyre factory closed in November 1979 with the loss of 1,500 jobs. The 51 year old factory was out of date, its production-line making cross-ply tyres rather than longer-lasting radials. It was hoped that workers might move to Firestone’s more modern factory in Wales, but this too closed the following year.

Six months after closure, the lavish art-deco factory, was controversially demolished by property developers Trafalgar House. It was claimed that redevelopment of the site as offices and light industrial units would create 2,000 new jobs.

The loss of the Firestone factory caused the government to rush through the ‘listing’ (legal protection) of three other London art-deco industrial landmarks: Battersea Power Station, the Hoover factory in Perivale and the Gillette factory in Brentford.