When it soon became apparent that the company needed much larger premises, the search for a new site began. A number of different sites were looked into and the earliest plans for a purpose-built London Headquarters date from 1906 for a site on Vauxhall Bridge Road. In 1909, a site on Fulham Road was offered to the company. Fulham Road, one of the main routes into London was considered a great location. Later that same year, a piece of land bordered by Fulham Road, Sloane Avenue, Leader Street and Lucan Place was purchased freehold from Cadgan and Hans Estate Co. Work on a design for the building had already begun and on 4 April 1910, the final designs for Michelin House were completed. Shortly after, work began on the building's construction. Technical aspects Michelin House is known for its decorative design. What cannot be seen from its exterior or interior design is that it is an early example of concrete construction in Britain. The building was constructed using Hennebique's ferro-concrete construction system. The ferro-concrete system offered great benefits for the construction of clear open spaces (ideal for storing tyres in the most efficient way). It also offered fire resistance properties which were very important when storing large quantities of highly flammable tyres. The system also had the advantage of quick construction; Michelin House took only 5 months to build. The original floors were constructed using hollow pot tiles. This flooring system as well as being highly durable also offered very good fireproofing qualities. Other interesting original features in Michelin House were automatic doors into the entrance hall and a weighing bay in the fitting area which weighed customers' cars so the correct tyre pressure could be applied. Architect The architect behind Michelin House was François Espinasse (1880–1925), who was employed as an engineer in the construction department at Michelin's headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand. It is believed that he worked on the design of Michelin's Headquarters in Paris (1908), but this is the only other known architectural work of his. The French Order of Architects in Paris have no record of him. Not much else is known about him other than he spent most of his working life at Michelin. Architectural style Michelin House is a unique building that is fine example of late Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style) and early Art Deco. It was designed and built at the end