Central Library

The Central Library in Burnley is a public library built between 1928 and 1930. It was designed by architect George Hartley and constructed by Borough Engineer Arthur Race. The building features a steel frame with sandstone ashlar cladding and hipped roofs made of Cumbrian slate, along with glass skylights, all in a modernist classical style.

The library has a rectangular plan surrounding a central well that houses the main hall on the ground floor. It stands two storeys high, giving the appearance of one storey, and is raised over a basement. The façade is symmetrical with a layout of 1:3:1 bays, where the central section projects forward and includes a porch. The exterior features a plinth, plain frieze, moulded cornice, and a parapet with two sunk bands.

The prominent central section has channelled rustication, an enriched cornice, and a distinctive zigguratal three-stage roof. A wide flight of steps leads up to a recessed porch that is supported by two giant fluted Doric columns. The tall inner doorway has an overlight, an enriched architrave, and a cornice on fluted consoles. Above this doorway is an oblong window with an enriched architrave, flanked by fasces, and a frieze inscribed with "PUBLIC LIBRARY." The dentilled cornice features egg-and-dart and bead-and-roll decoration.

The flanking bays contain tall two-stage windows on the ground floor and square windows above, all with linked architraves and metal-framed glazing that includes margin panes. Each wide outer bay has one tall 12-pane window with similar glazing and an enriched pedimented architrave. The left and right return walls each have five matching windows, while the rear features a symmetrical two-storey projection with a central doorway, vertical-rectangular windows at ground level, and square windows above.

Inside, the central hall boasts a glazed barrel-vaulted roof, and there is a staircase adorned with a mosaic dado that includes Vitruvian scrolls.