Harris Institute

Harris Institute

Formerly known as The Preston Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, this mechanics institute was built between 1846 and 1849 by architect John Welch on Avenham Lane in Preston. It subsequently served as a Technological and Science and Art School before becoming an art school. The terraced forecourt dates to 1849 and was designed by George Latham, with additions to the rear added around 1883.

The building is constructed in sandstone ashlar with a slate roof punctuated by glass skylights. It follows a double-pile plan with later rear additions. The architectural style is classical, presenting two storeys with three bays raised on a full basement storey, which projects forward to form the terraced forecourt. The façade is symmetrical with a central portico, paired corner pilasters, a moulded frieze, and a dentilled cornice with blocking course.

The portico is the most prominent feature, containing two giant fluted columns with composite capitals set in antis. The antae are enriched with delicate anthemion ornament repeated on the corner pilasters. A dramatic dentilled pediment crowns the composition, with the date "1847" inscribed on the entablature soffit. The entrance beneath the portico bears an architrave with a frieze inscribed "SCHOOL OF ART", an elaborately carved stone cresting, and a later stone plaque reading "HARRIS INSTITUTE" above a deeply recessed porch with a pedimented doorway. Flanking the portico are tripartite bay windows with panelled aprons, square columnar mullions, and corniced entablatures. The main blocks are covered by hipped roofs with a rectangular lantern and two corniced chimney stacks between them.

The forecourt is accessed by a broad flight of steps arranged in two stages, the lower with curved splays. Retaining walls feature banded rustication with rock-faced battered piers crowned by a prominent dentilled cornice, while balustrades with square panelled piers protect the perimeter, with urns surmounting those at the foot of the steps. The left side displays a rock-faced basement storey with a central doorway. Above this runs a re-entrant containing an open colonnaded corridor (now partly glazed) that links the end walls of the front and rear blocks. These end walls are finished with paired corner pilasters, banded rustication, and coupled sashed windows at ground floor level. The late 19th-century rear addition comprises two storeys and four bays in simplified classical style.

Inside, a two-cell entrance hall features the front cell with side screens composed of stone columns set distyle in antis, now closed with glazed doors and partitions. Both cells are distinguished by coffered ceilings with plaster cornices enriched with waterleaf and bead-and-reel mouldings. An imperial staircase with elaborate cast-iron balusters rises through the building. The rear block contains a lecture room with raked seating, while the first floor of the front block holds a former exhibition room (now subdivided) illuminated by skylights and with roof trusses supported by scrolled consoles.

The institution was founded in 1828 and relocated to this site from original premises in Cannon Street, despite objections from some founder members that it would no longer serve its intended working-class audience. Its function was gradually superseded following the opening of the Free Library in 1872 and later the Harris Library and Museum. From 1882 onwards the building was converted and enlarged to serve as a Technological College, the parent institution of Harris Technical School in Corporation Street, which ultimately became Lancashire Polytechnic.