The Henson Building (Gilbey's Yard)
The Henson Building in Camden, London, is a 1937 International Modernist structure designed by refugee architects Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn that features floating cork-insulated foundations. Originally built as an addition for the W and A Gilbey gin empire, the seven-storey site later housed Jim Henson’s Creature Shop from the late 1970s until 2005, creating iconic animatronic puppets for films like Harry Potter before becoming luxury apartments.
London · from the walk “Concrete, Catacombs & Control” · Generated
Henson Building, Jamestown Road, Camden, London NW1 7BY
- Architect Erich Mendelsohn fled Nazi Germany in 1933 before co-designing the 1937 addition to the Henson Building.
- Engineer Felix Samuely floated the Henson Building on cork insulation to shield stored wines from passing train vibrations.
- W and A Gilbey Limited was founded in 1857 and occupied 20 acres across Camden by 1914.
- Jim Henson established his Creature Shop at the location, producing animatronic puppets from the late 1970s until 2005.
Why does the Henson Building in London have foundations floating on cork insulation?
Look at this building. Really look at it. That sleek, seven-storey corner block with its horizontal strip windows and white concrete facade. It sits on a corner site, seven storeys high, in the International Modern idiom. It looks almost... governmental. Clinical. Like something from a cautionary film about a future we were never supposed to reach. And that is not an accident.
This is the Henson Building... but before the puppets came the gin. And before the gin came the architects of exile.
This yard was once the global headquarters of W and A Gilbey Limited, founded in eighteen fifty-seven — and by nineteen fourteen, Gilbey's occupied Twenty acres across Camden. They were, for a time, the world's largest drinks distributor. The original Victorian block dates from eighteen ninety-four, designed by William Hucks. But the part you're staring at now... that addition from nineteen thirty-seven... was designed by Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn.
Here's where it gets dark. Mendelsohn was born into a Jewish family in Allenstein, East Prussia. When Hitler came to power in nineteen thirty-three, a decree by the Reichskulturkammer banned Jewish architects from practising. He quickly left Germany, forced to abandon his practice, arriving in England as a refugee. And Chermayeff? Born in Grozny in the Russian Empire, he arrived in England aged ten. The family money vanished in the nineteen seventeen Russian Revolution. Two displaced men... building a gin palace for the British Empire on the edge of a railway yard.
And beneath your feet right now... the foundations are floating. The building incorporates technical innovations by consulting engineer Felix Samuely — the foundations are floated on cork insulation to protect the wine from the vibration of nearby trains. Think about that. An entire building... cushioned on cork... so that bottles of claret wouldn't tremble when freight trains roared past below. Underneath this yard lie cobbled surfaces, hidden catacombs, and warrens of horse tunnels that ran from here right up the length of Chalk Farm Road to the Roundhouse.
Then the empire of spirits died. The warehouses emptied. The area became a crumbling, largely forgotten industrial corner of the city. And That is when the monsters moved in.
Chief Muppeteer Jim Henson fell in love with this part of the world and moved into a large house on Hampstead's Downshire Hill in the mid-seventies. But the smell of latex and sounds of industrial moulding were not a hit with the neighbours. So he found this decaying warehouse — and filled it with creatures. Star Wars director George Lucas wanted Henson to play his new character, Yoda, and though Jim declined, Creature Shop puppeteers and technology were hugely influential on the development of the iconic little green sage. This space was used to create classic critters — from Kermit the Frog to Babe the Pig to Fluffy the three-headed dog from the first Harry Potter film.
The Creature Shop closed in two thousand five. The location was converted into luxury apartments known as The Henson. The monsters are gone. The gin is gone. But the cork still floats beneath, silently absorbing the tremors of a city that never stops moving. A building designed by refugees, stocked by empire, haunted by puppets... now selling flats for a million pounds. If That isn't dystopian London... I don't know what is.