Murphy Radio Factory, Bessemer Road, Welwyn Garden City
The interior of the Production Shop at the Murphy Radio Factory, showing the glazed clerestory of a cantilever shell concrete roof above one of the bays. Construction of the new 300, 000 square foot Murphy Radio Factory began in October 1953. The first contract was for the production shop, boiler house, annexes, roads, drainage and external site work. The production shop featured roofs of cantilever shell concrete spanning the width of the building in 3 bays, while the length was comprised of fifteen bays each 180 foot in length and 30 feet wide. The roofs had clerestories of glazing facing east and west in order to maximise the daylight which reached working areas. Inside the building, service ducts were located under the valleys of the roof. This photograph was published in the March 1955 edition of Laing's Team Spirit newsletter
