Description

CAMDEN

TQ3083SW PANCRAS ROAD
798-1/85/1265 (East side)
30/01/76 No.26

GV II

Gymnasium and library, now offices & gymnasium. 1864-65. By
Edward Gruning. For the German Gymnastic Society. Built by
Piper and Wheeler. Multi-coloured stock brick. Rectangular
plan with narrow, slightly projecting entrance frontage to
Pancras Road.
EXTERIOR: frontage 3 storeys 1 window. Stucco door surround of
pilasters supporting a dentil entablature with segmental
pediment. Round-arched doorway pilaster jambs supporting an
architrave with keystone; fanlight and C20 panelled doors with
small lights. 1st floor, recessed 4-pane sash with stuccoed
lintel with mask; 2nd floor, round-arched 4-pane sash with
stuccoed head. Moulded brick cornice and blocking course.
North and south elevations with brick pilasters dividing bays
(rectangular windows), 1st floor brick bands and deep Lombard
frieze at eaves level; brick gables. Hipped roof with
continuous lantern along the ridge. Gabled east elevation with
gabled brick porch, 5 pointed arch windows above which an
oculus, very deep Lombard frieze and enriched brick cornice.
To the left, a staircase tower with narrow lights (those at
base bricked up) and Lombard frieze.
INTERIOR: narrow entrance hall with Imperial stair (2 flights
then 1) the entire width of the hall. Gymnasium a single cell
subdivided into nave and aisles by 2 storeys of cast-iron
piers with lush early English foliage capitals. The piers
support arched, laminated wood roof trusses some 20m wide, as
experimented with but replaced at King's Cross Station, Euston
Road (qv). A second floor has been inserted at gallery level
providing office accommodation.
An important early example of the use of laminated timber to
give broad spans.

Listing NGR: TQ3011483152

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• German Gymnasium, London at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5551117

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings