Percy Street, Line Building East

The Line Building dates from the 1920s. It is of three storeys over a cellar with a flat roof and plain interior. The Line Building and the first and second floor of the adjoining Crows Nest Hotel (HER10773) were recorded in 2014 by ASUD. The Line Building was originally constructed as a shop and offices for a firm of paperhangers. Kelly's 1929 directory lists the building as the premises of John Dunn and Sons, incorporated with John Line and Sons Ltd. Line's was a national company with shops in Mayfair, St. John's Wood and Tottenham Court Road; in the 1950s they became famous for commissioning modern artists to create wallpaper designs. A warehouse connected to the company stood to the north of the Line Building and the two were connected by a bridge. The building was acquired by The University of Durham, Kings College (later Newcastle University) and used as the Strata Control Research Laboratory, the Department of Metallurgy and, most recently, the Archaeology Department. In the 1960s the university took over the first and second floors of the adjoining building (Crows Nest)- glazed bridges were built to connect the two buildings. The ground floor contains a lecture theatre.