use of materials with large windows, chromium-plated fittings and a steel structure devised by Felix Samuely. The London County Council first had the steel framing removed before agreeing to allow its use. It cost such a price that Alexander Simpson warned that the company was not expecting to earn a profit for several years after due to his determination for creating something of such high quality (for which it later won awards). László Moholy-Nagy, a director of the Bauhaus school, designed much of the visual merchandising and displays for the shop, including the in-store signage, the window displays, and three aircraft to be exhibited on the fifth floor at the store opening merely to draw in curious customers, attract headlines and increase footfall (the door framing had to be removed to allow the aeroplanes into the building and suspected to have been winched up the centre of the staircase). Ashley Havinden, influenced by cubism, futurism and Bauhaus typography, designed the store's logos, advertising, and some rugs and carpeting. The store housed many other services such as a gift shop, a dog shop, a barber's shop, and restaurant (the wine vault can still be found in the basement), along with the departments for Simpson clothing – bespoke tailoring (Simpson wanted customers to be able to see the tailors in action), ready-to-wear DAKS suits, and a sport shop. Shop fittings and lighting were designed by Emberton which are still in place such as the stairwell's 90-foot chromium light fitting suspended from the ceiling, and the steel and glass handrails. On the fifth floor was a balcony that allowed views across London at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral. The building is recognised as Joseph Emberton's masterpiece – the front glass and stone strips are not quite horizontal as perceived on first glance, but at a slight angle to help appear more horizontal, keep clean for longer and reflect the coloured neon lighting that was in place at the opening; ducts are hidden around the walls so that the lights in them reflect better off the ceiling, the water supply was by an artesian well in the basement; the vast open floors which were uncommon at the time, fitted with hidden sliding fire doors; a vacuum cleaning system with vertical tubes installed through the building and in the ceiling ducts; the use of new coloured neon-lighting for the front of the shop that