King George VI Building Department For Agriculture And The Centre For Lifelong Learning

The King George VI Building, which houses the Department for Agriculture and the Centre for Lifelong Learning, is located in Newcastle upon Tyne. Built between 1936 and 1939, it underwent internal alterations in 1948 and had an attic storey added between 1955 and 1957. Designed by P Clive Newcombe and largely funded by Sir Arthur Munro Sutherland, the building features a steel frame with flat concrete roofs, clad in red brick with ashlar dressings. It consists of three tall blocks connected by lower buildings that contain staircases and lecture theatres, with a mix of three and four storeys above a basement.

The west front facing Queen Victoria Road showcases a central four-storey block with nine windows, featuring a slightly projecting three-window centre adorned with short Doric pilasters in antis. Above this, there are giant Corinthian pilasters in antis topped with an ashlar parapet. Flanking this central section are two slightly lower seven-window blocks, each with projecting three-window centres and ashlar panels between. The main entrance, set back to the right, features a projecting ashlar porch with single fluted Doric columns in antis and a moulded ashlar door surround, complete with a revolving door and an overlight with glazing bars.

The St Thomas Street front is two storeys plus an attic, arranged in a pattern of 4.4.5.4.4 windows. The central section has three windows within an ashlar panel, with three attic windows above. On either side, there are four-window sections set in vertical ashlar panels, with similar four-window sections set back at either end.

The east facade along King's Road is similar to the west facade but has a plainer central section. Inside, the entrance hall and Howden Room feature high-quality imitation 17th-century panelling and decorative plaster ceilings.