Henrion Street sculpture

The Elms estate was built by Wates in 1961. This large aluminium and steel sign was erected at the entrance and was designed by FHK Henrion (1914-1990), a celebrated 20th century graphic designer. German Jewish designer Frederick Henri Kay Henrion (1914–1990) moved as a 22 year old first to Paris to work as a poster designer and then to Britain in 1936. He created some of the most memorable Allied wartime propaganda for the British Ministry of Information – including the iconic poster of four hands tearing the swastika apart.

After the war, Henrion moved into advertising and fashion, designing covers for Harper’s Bazaar. He was involved in major corporate branding projects, designing, or re-designing, the branding for KLM, British European Airways (becoming British Airways & adopting Henrion’s arrow Union Jack design), Tate + Lyle, London Electricity Board, British Leyland and Coopers & Lybrand. With a collaborator, Ian Dennis, he designed the famous National Theatre logo.

The sign was corroding with peeling paint and missing blocks and numbers. There were later poor repairs and its concrete cobble base was cracked. The restoration project was completed in autumn 2023 and involved paint analysis, careful restoration of all the metalwork and a renewed base. We celebrated a launch with international artist Lakwena Maciver - a former resident of the estate. This restoration was funded by HOLT, The Ironmongers Company and The Elms Resident's Company.

See this project featured in C20 magazine: https://www.heritageoflondon.org/post/holt-in-c20-magazine