After exposing the original Victorian structural steelwork of 195 Piccadilly, we discoved it was provided by Moreland, Hayne & Co. Ltd. We did some digging online to find out who they were:
Moreland, Hayne & Co. Ltd. was founded in 1797 as a mechanical and general engineering company and by the 1930s they had built a world-wide reputation as a structural engineering firm. Their offices were based in the City of London on Goswell Road and they had a construction yard in Silvertown, East London. They always used British steel.
In Industrial Britain: Britain's Message to the Empire from the Air it is revealed that most of the structural steelwork in the West-End stores and London theatres was provided by Moreland, Hayne & Co. Ltd. Their most notable projects in London include BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place (1929) and the W.H. Smith building on Albert Embankment (1935). During the Second World War they were responsible for "assembling and fabricating bailey bridges and the ‘whale’ sections (joining the pontoons) for the mulberry harbours" used in the D-Day landings.
Moreland, Hayne and Co. Ltd, Silvertown, 1923
BBC Broadcasting House, about 1937. © Copyright Alfred Thomson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection.
An aerial view of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches, which clearly shows the effectiveness of the breakwater - outside the sea is rough, whilst inside ships are at anchor in calm water. Between 1939 and 1945. This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence. Photographs taken, or artworks created, by a member of the forces during their active service duties are covered by Crown Copyright provisions. Faithful reproductions may be reused under that licence, which is considered expired 50 years after their creation. Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection.
References
www.gracesguide.co.uk/moreland,and_co
www.gracesguide.co.uk/1922WhoEngineering:M
www.gracesguide.co.uk/1930Britain:HayneCo
https://www.tylersandbricklayers.co.uk/images/stories/newsletters/newsletter2012.pdf
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett/files/chapter17place.pdf
