The Brynmawr Rubber Factory was a factory in South Wales which produced rubber and PVC flooring. ACP and structural engineers worked together to design a complex that would have spacious halls which would maintain a human scale. The main part of the industrial complex was a hall covered with nine domed concrete shells (each 25.9m long and 18.9m wide). The shells were less than 90 mm thick and contained circular roof lights. Together they formed a 4,3-meter high roof that was supported in each corner of a shell. The supporting columns were V-shaped to ensure the roof was static without making it thicker or adding other columns. They were placed at every corner where two shells were connected and were parallel to the edges of shells at the top. The main hall was surrounded by several smaller buildings with concrete barrel vault roofs. At that time the factory was considered an architectural masterpiece and therefore Frank Lloyd Wright visited it. Apart from its significant design, it was built to provide new jobs to those who had lost their jobs in closed coal mines. It was financed and built by the government. In 1982 it was closed and in 2001 demolished after several failed attempts to restore it and use it as cultural and sports center.

Interior of the main hall.
All our texts and many of our images appear under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License (CC BY-SA). All our content is written and edited by our community.
lovro, October 19th, 2018