Elspeth and I visited amongst other places the Boots D10 building as part of the recent Beeston Heritage Open Days event.
It's a fairly enormous factory building built around 1930 and the first (in the UK at least) to be constructed of concrete and glass. It's a seriously impressive site and looks modern and forward-thinking, even now. D10 has a large, central atrium with a concrete and glass roof that allows light to enter and fill the four-storey factory space, which is criss-crossed with bridges connecting the gallery-like floors in a very exciting, almost sci-fi way...
Interesting facts about D10
It is (or was) known as the "Wets Factory". The idea being that all products requiring similar handling and process requirements would be in the same place. So potions, lotions or other runny pharmaceuticals along with shampoo, perfume, toothpaste, etc. would all be made and packaged here. Pills, powders and other dry stuff, elsewhere.
These days, it's the Boots Contact Manufacturing building. They make toothpaste and all sorts of other stuff for the likes of Colgmithsodyneodent or whoever. I made the name up obviously and they were cagey about who they make stuff for and keen we didn't take photos of products or trademarks on the line.
From Boots' fact sheet on the day:
- D is for Dunkirk - the Nottingham area it's officially in - not Beeston!
- more to come...