Derwent House (Birmingham)

 office building, factory, production, Grade II Listed (UK)

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Grade II listed office and works fronting onto Mary Ann Street with Livery Street and Water Street elevations. Water Street section built 1913-1916 for Taylor & Challen Ltd., engineers, and extended towards Mary Ann Street by 1921. Designed by Ewen Harpur and Bro. architects.

Taylor and Challen was founded by Joseph Taylor in 1852. The company produced metal working machinery including presses for the metal trades, examples of which are still found in workshops and manufactories throughout the Jewellery Quarter. The company developed rapidly over a 70-year period, mirroring the pattern of expansion within the jewellery trade. The design of the foundry and its extensions appears to reflect the influence of Peter Behrens' Kraftwerk Union Factory Hall in Berlin of 1909.

Still used for manufacturing, although not by Taylor & Challen Ltd., who were taken over by TMA in the 1990s.