Montague Burton, Swansea - 1932 - Gifts

On my way to a regular creative meetup in Swansea, I walked along High Street and glanced up. Noticing two carved elephants on the facade of one building led to a deep research dive, and the discovery of an Art Deco store built for Montague Burton’s 1930s tailoring empire.

Montague Burton had a fascinating story and a keen eye for architecture. The store on High Street, Swansea was designed in the Art Deco style by Burton's in-house architect - Harry Wilson - and was built between 1931 and 1932. High Street took direct, incendiary hits during the WWII air raids of 1941. While neighbouring shops were flattened, the Burton building's steel-frame structure and stone cladding survived intact, making it a rare survivor of Swansea's pre-war commercial core. While not unique to this store, the elephants were not a feature of all Burton buildings. Of Burton's 322 buildings, only 11 had elephants. The most - 18 elephants - belong to the Halifax store.

While the Portland stone facade survives and is in good condition (despite some blue paint), the shop front is long gone. With no surviving photography of the original store, I reviewed hundreds of photographs and schematics of Burton stores from the same period during my research. Consequently, there has been an element of forensic restoration (educated guesswork) deployed in the restoration of the fascia, architraves and mullions.

It is a pity that Burton and Wilson's buildings have not been shown the same love as cinemas and stations of the same period. So few are listed buildings and many have been demolished. Many examples remain around the UK. So, next time you're in town, remember to look up. You may see elephants overhead!

• Name: Montague Burton, Swansea

• Architect: Harry Wilson

• Opened: 1932

• Style: Art Deco, Modernist

I'd like to credit Laid by Monty and Historic England for their prior research and invaluable resources.