Stamford House

Stamford House

A commercial building with offices over shops located at the corner of Stamford New Road and Moss Lane in Altrincham. Built in 1904-5 by the Manchester architect Charles Heathcote & Sons for J.H. Brown Esq., it was formerly known as Station Buildings. The building has been slightly altered since its construction.

The structure is built in red brick laid in Flemish bond, with the principal elevations faced largely in glazed buff terracotta dressings. It is roofed in green slate with a mansard profile, punctuated by brick chimneys with terracotta dressings.

The building adopts an L-shaped plan on its corner site, formed by two ranges set at right-angles to one another and linked over a wagon entry from Moss Lane. It displays Edwardian baroque styling throughout.

The principal elevation rises to three storeys with a basement and an attic storey above. The composition is arranged as 3:1:3 bays, almost symmetrical, with a convex corner projection to the right. Terracotta pilasters, a frieze and cornice articulate the ground floor. Giant Ionic pilasters rise through the first and second floors, their capitals enriched with foliated pendants; a waterleaf frieze and prominent moulded cornice on scrolled brackets run across the elevation. An open segmental pediment crowns the centre bay, housing a cartouche inscribed "STATION BUILDINGS" with an elaborately scrolled surround featuring foliated pendants.

At ground floor level, the centre bay contains a doorway with set-in blocked columns and a flat arched head; the voussoirs are interrupted by a panel with eared architrave, and the bay is flanked by cartouches lettered "B". The remaining bays contain twentieth-century shop fronts inserted into original openings. The first floor centre features a 12-pane sashed window within an architrave with blocked colonettes, whilst the outer bays hold pairs of 12-pane sashes with eared architraves and triple keystones. At second floor level, the centre displays a 2-light window and the outer bays have 3-light windows; all are treated as colonnades with blocked colonettes and antae, fitted throughout with 8-pane sashes. The attic storey has flat-roofed dormers, also with 8-pane sashes. Four tall panelled chimneys with banded corners and moulded terracotta cornices punctuate the roofline.

The left return wall, which overlooks the station yard, is convex in plan and features a central composition with 2-light windows at first and second floor levels, their architraves matching those of the front elevation, and a segmental open pediment above. The convex corner to the right is fitted with blocked colonettes at second floor level and carries a cartouche inscribed "JHB" on a pedestal dated "1905".

The south elevation facing Moss Lane steps up the gentle slope in portions of 2, 4 and 4 bays successively. A segmental-arched wagon entry sits between the first and second portions, with a doorway between the second and third. Segmental oriels rise above these openings, terminating as domed turrets at attic level. Otherwise, this elevation matches the principal front in its detailing, except for later alterations to the attic window glazing, and is punctuated by five matching chimneys.

The rear elevation of each range incorporates a central bay featuring staggered stair-windows and an open segmental pediment containing a keyed oculus.

The interior contains staircases that mount around lifts, with axial corridors serving the office floors. These corridors have wooden panelled dados and glazed screens.

Charles Heathcote was one of the outstanding contemporary Manchester architects of his era; original blueprints for this building are held at Altrincham Town Hall.

The building forms a group with Nos 42 and 44 (the Station Hotel) opposite on the other side of the street, and with the Clock Tower to the north, together marking the northern boundary of the Conservation Area.