Former Carnegie Public Library

The Former Carnegie Public Library, built in 1905, is located on Anlaby Road in Kingston upon Hull. Designed by city architect JH Hirst and funded by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, this building showcases a half-timbered Domestic Revival style. It features a combination of brick and timber framing with rendered nogging, topped with hipped plain tile roofs. The structure has deep eaves supported by wrought-iron scroll brackets and is arranged in an L-plan with limbs of unequal size, including a two-storey octagonal porch at the inside angle.

The octagonal porch has a close-studded first floor and a pyramidal roof adorned with a weather vane. Above the porch, there are eight 2-light leaded casements, with a panel beneath the front one inscribed "Carnegie Public Library." The projecting single-storey porch features a close-studded gable and a pair of half-glazed doors flanked by sidelights. On either side of the porch, there are 2-light windows with brick mullions.

The main wing, which is three storeys tall and has four bays, includes an open wooden arcade with segment-headed bays. Beneath this arcade are a pair of glazed doors with side and top lights featuring glazing bars. Above, there is a box dormer with five glazing bar lights. The right return has a similar arcade with three bays, a pair of doors, and a similar dormer above. At the rear, there are three 3-light glazing bar cross casements.

The smaller left wing has a large external brick stack at the outer end, with a close-studded upper part that includes a single light leaded window. The brick underbuild has a segment-headed cellar opening and to the left, a small brick mullioned 2-light window.

Inside, the library features an octagonal entrance hall with fluted wooden columns, a glazed brick dado, and a mosaic frieze. It also includes leaded glazed double doors and screens, as well as a corniced issue desk with a similar screen. The main wing has fitted corniced bookshelves and a common rafter roof.