Cathedral House and former Convent of Christ the King

Cathedral House and former Convent of Christ the King

Cathedral House and the former Convent of Christ the King are grade II listed buildings constructed between 1962 and 1967, designed by Frederick Gibberd and Partners to serve the adjacent Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral built in the same period.

The buildings are faced in Portland stone and comprise two rectangular, two-storey, flat-roofed blocks aligned north-south and stepped, linked by a single-storey connecting block. They stand on the east side of the cathedral podium, to which they are joined by enclosed corridors.

The front elevations face east onto Mount Pleasant, with Cathedral House positioned to the left and the former convent to the right. Ground-floor fenestration consists of irregularly spaced and numbered rows of vertical strip windows. Cathedral House has a doorway towards its right-hand end inscribed "CATHEDRAL HOUSE", whilst the convent has a doorway towards its left-hand end. Both doorways are flanked by sidelights and have deep, textured concrete lintels. The convent doorway is additionally flanked by two small vertical windows and bears the inscription "CONVENT / OF / CHRIST THE KING" with an inset doorbell. The single-storey link block at the right-hand end of Cathedral House contains a wide doorway with timber double doors featuring vertical strip glazing and a narrow horizontal window to the right.

The first floor of Cathedral House has four evenly-spaced large casement windows with timber panelled aprons and metal panels above, separated by three narrow horizontal windows. The convent first floor has seven casement windows offset to the right, also with metal panels above. Windows have recessed concrete plinths painted black and sloping slate sills throughout.

The south end elevation of Cathedral House features two similar first-floor windows separated by a narrow horizontal window, with another below. The convent's south end elevation has an offset row of vertical strip windows at ground-floor level. The north end elevation has a door to the right and a narrow horizontal window to the left, with a larger first-floor window above.

The rear elevations overlook two enclosed gardens. Cathedral House has fenestration similar to the front elevation, with double glazed doors at its left-hand end opening onto the garden and an enclosed corridor towards the right-hand end connecting to the cathedral. The single-storey link block to the left has a row of narrow horizontal windows and a metal external staircase from the flat roof, with a second enclosed corridor to its left connecting to the cathedral. The two-storey convent has a wide textured concrete band between floors with similar first-floor windows, a doorway and external metal staircase at its left-hand end descending into the second garden. The ground floor has three large windows with lower timber panels that continue round onto the link block.

The interior contains cantilevered concrete staircases in both buildings, with concrete flights and timber treads, accompanied by slender balustrades with handrail boards and widely-spaced metal rods. Doors are timber-laminated set in timber architraves, some with rectangular overlights. At the head of the convent staircase is a timber and glazed screen with vertical window strips and a laminated timber door with rectangular overlight positioned to one side. The link block has timber ceiling frames beneath rectangular semi-circular roof lights.