The company announced in November 1979 that it would close the factory.[6][7]
After its purchase by Trafalgar House, the building was demolished during the August 1980 bank holiday weekend, reportedly in anticipation of its becoming listed.[8][9] The Twentieth Century Society call the structure their "first serious case" and say that its destruction[10] "focused public attention on the necessity for greater protection for 20th century buildings and led directly to the listing of 150 examples of inter–war architecture (including Battersea Power Station) by the government".
The gates, piers and railings fencing the site received a Grade II listing in 2001.[1]
^A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), Heston and Isleworth: Economic and social history, pages 114–119. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
^"Firestone Plans Cuts in Europe". The New York Times. 15 November 1979. The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Ltd, said today that it would discontinue operations at its Brentford, Middlesex, plant within the next three [...]
^"'Erotic gherkin' company has 'form'". The Daily Telegraph. London. 25 August 2000. Trafalgar House used to own the Firestone Building on Western Avenue. Two days before the building was to be listed, it flattened that, too.