Borough Social Services Area Office

The Borough Social Services Area Office, formerly the River Wear Commission Offices, was built in 1907 by John Hall. It is constructed of Scottish red granite, rock-faced at basement level and with a polished doorcase, alongside Durham sandstone ashlar. The roof is slate, and the building is in a Free Baroque style.

The building is two storeys and a basement, with seven windows. The basement windows are located in the outer bays. The ground floor is characterised by banded rustication, with a central bay featuring wrought-iron gates leading to internal steps to a double-panelled door. The rusticated entrance surround has an open segmental pediment hood supported by Tuscan pilasters and large scroll brackets, and a large key cartouche carved with a pair of dividers. A two-storey oriel sits above the entrance, topped with a segmental pediment. The outer bays project beneath open segmental pediments. Windows feature vertical glazing bars in double-keyed architraves, except for the basement windows that have a triple key pattern. The roof parapet includes raised, bracketed panels above the outer pediments. The return facade to John Street is arranged as 2:2:2 bays, in a similar style.

The interior, partly inspected, features an alabaster and marble archway leading to an oak-panelled hall and stairwell. The stairwell contains oak columns, Tuscan on the ground floor and Ionic above, with moulded entablatures. An open-well stair has a ramped handrail with a wide grip on turned balusters and a close string with a laurel-wreath pulvinated frieze. Panelled doors have architrave surrounds with a pulvinated frieze and cornice. The first-floor board room includes moulded panels with raised fields, pilasters featuring carved swags, a carved entablature, bolection-moulded marble fire surrounds, and a segmental-arched ceiling with bands of rich stucco decoration.

The building reflects the history of the management of the River Wear, established in 1717. It has stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.