Description

SOUTHWARK

TQ3379 SPA ROAD 636-1/5/715 (North West side) Bermondsey Municipal Offices and attached railing and brackets

II

Borough hall. 1928-1930. By Henry Tansley, FRIBA. Coursed ashlar blocks. Roof parapeted. Designed in emulation of the early C19 Greek Revival. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys over basement and 9-window range. All openings are flat with moulded architraves. Steps up to centrally placed entrance set under giant tetrastyle Ionic portico; tympanum to pediment with the Borough arms in low relief; anthemion to peak with blocky attic storey behind. Portico entablature with dentil cornice continuous across the elevation which is articulated by plain, 2-storey pilaster strips; shallow rebate to the right corner. The entrance is distinguished by a very elaborate cornice with paterae frieze and is flanked by a pair of small windows with grilles of an original design. Railings and torcheres to either side of entrance and railings to basement area. The design returns to the right for 9 bays; the corner bay of the return is broader than the rest, its windows framed by Ionic distyle 'in antis'; the 1st-floor window with a balcony. Railings to narrow area. Entrance in the 7th bay has iron grille and 8-panel door of original design. Plaque to the right of the main entrance: Borough of Bermondsey Municipal Offices/ This Foundation Stone Was Laid October 20, 1928 by Alderman Harry C Bateman JP/ Architect H Tansley FRIBA/ WE Baker General Manager of the Works/ GF Avery Supervisor of the Works. INTERIOR: of special note are vestibule, entrance and stair hall. Rectangular vestibule entered through veined marble aedicule; similar aedicules and mouldings to entrance hall in which Doric columns support an elliptical gallery. Imperial stair to north lit by electric torcheres. First-floor gallery roofed by an elliptical dome supported on coupled columns. Pavement of an original design. Such grand display in the entrance to municipal buildings, where the greatest care is usually taken on the decoration of the council chamber, is explained both by the fact that this structure was an annexe to a building next door, now demolished, and that the architect was able to buy these richly veined marble features from a house in Park Lane demolished in 1927-28.

(Harwood E (English Heritage): London Region Report on Bermondsey Municipal Offices, Spa Road: 1990-).





Listing NGR: TQ3381879200

External Links

• Bermondsey Municipal Offices And Attached Railing And Brackets at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26665688

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

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  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
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  Old House Care and Repair
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  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)