British Leyland HQ, Marylebone Road 1977
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This 1977 view shows the British Leyland headquarters on Marylebone Road, housed within the striking modernist landmark now known as Marathon House. Completed in 1960 as Castrol House, the building was a pioneering piece of British commercial architecture: the first in England to feature a fully glazed American-style curtain wall. At 162 feet (49 metres) and 15 storeys high, it brought a distinctly transatlantic look to London, drawing clear influence from New York’s Lever House (1951–52), whose sleek glass slab design became an icon of post-war corporate modernism.
British Leyland occupied the building from 1973 to 1979, during one of the most turbulent and widely scrutinised periods in the company’s history. From this headquarters, senior management grappled with industrial unrest, product rationalisation, government intervention and the fierce competition reshaping the global car market. Despite the challenges, Marathon House projected an image of modernity and international ambition—fitting for a company that still exported vehicles around the world.
Today the building survives as a converted residential block, but in the mid-1970s it stood as a bold symbol of Britain’s once-dominant motor industry, looking out across the busy sweep of Marylebone Road.
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