Sunlight Chambers Essex Quay [ Dublin] REF-104244

I like this building so it surprised me to discover that Sunlight Chambers was described as being “one of the ugliest buildings in Ireland” by The Irish Builder at the time it was built.

 

Sunlight Chambers. Situated on the corner of Parliament Street and Essex Quay was designed by Edward Ould and built for Lever Bros between 1899 and 1901.

 

Of interest are two multicoloured terracotta friezes depicting the history of hygiene and the use of soap. The Lever Brothers had become famous and rich with their production of "Sunlight" soap. The feedstock for it came from palm oil.

 

Through their company 'Huileries du Congo Belge', the Lever Brothers obtained the monopoly to harvest and process all palm fruits in the Congo, within five "circles" with a radius of 60 kilometres around the towns of Bumba, Barumbu, Basongo, Lusanga, Ruki/Momboyo. (The town of Lusanga was actually called "Leverville", where the company's Congolese headquarters were.) Thus, they obtained an area of 67,800 square kilometres (roughly two times the size of Belgium) where they created something akin to a 'state within the state'. Leverland. The use of local labor on the plantations was deemed 'free' but no coercion would be tolerated. However, historical research shows that forced labor was practised on a massive scale and for decades

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