I recently attended a Creative meetup in Swansea. As I made my way to the venue, I walked along High Street and this time I was looking up. I noticed two carved elephants on the facade of one of the buildings. After some research, I discovered that this building is one of the many that Montague Burton built in the thirties for his tailoring empire.

Montague Burton had a fascinating story and a keen eye for architecture. The store on High Street, Swansea was designed in the Art Deco style by Burton's in-house architect - Harry Wilson - and was built between 1931 and 1932. While not unique to this store, the elephants were not a feature of all Burton buildings. Of Burton's 322 buildings, only 11 had elephants. The most - 18 elephants - belong to the Halifax store.

While the stone facade survives and is in good condition (despite some blue paint), the shop front is long gone. With no surviving photography of the original store, I reviewed hundreds of photographs and schematics of Burton stores from the same period during my research. Consequently, there has been an element of forensic restoration (educated guesswork) deployed in the restoration of the facia, architraves and mullions.

It is a pity that Burton and Wilson's buildings have not been shown the same love as cinemas and stations of the same period. So few are listed buildings and many have been demolished. Many examples remain around the UK. So, next time you're in town, remember to look up. You may see an elephant overhead!

This artwork is available on all the usual gear.

I'd like to credit Laid by Monty and Historic England for their prior research and invaluable resources.