Former Trinity House Buoy Shed

This former buoy shed was built in 1901 to designs by architect David Christie for the Corporation of the Trinity House, Hull. The building has undergone 20th-century alterations.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings in white, yellow and orange stone. The roofs are covered with slate and corrugated sheeting.

Layout and Form

The buoy shed stands parallel to the River Hull on its east bank. It comprises a large, double-height rectangular shed with a mezzanine level on the east side. The structure has two double-pile gablet roofs of different widths, both aligned north-south. A single-storey shed abuts the south wall, with a gablet roof aligned east-west.

Exterior Description

The building is constructed of orange brick laid in English bond. The double-height shed has a high plinth band of blue bricks (painted black on the roadside elevation), a high-level yellow ashlar sill band, and a yellow ashlar string band. Above this sits a brick parapet with moulded ashlar coping. The bays are defined by brick pilasters with yellow ashlar relief panels at their heads and brick pedestals with moulded ashlar coping above, projecting beyond the parapet. The lower, single-storey shed has a blue brick plinth to its east and west elevations, with narrow, moulded ashlar strings at impost level that continue over the goods entrance archways, beneath which are blue brick bands. It too has a brick parapet with moulded ashlar coping and corner pedestals with moulded ashlar coping.

West (River) Elevation

The west elevation of the double-height shed is divided into five bays, with the wider central and outer bays projecting slightly and featuring dentilated cornices supported by pilasters. The central bay displays a square ashlar relief panel depicting the Trinity House coat of arms—three stars and an anchor supported by dolphins with the motto SPES SUPER SYDERA (Hope Beyond the Stars)—set within a moulded orange ashlar frame.

The outer bays each contain a full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance framed with rusticated chamfered stones to the reveals and voussoirs, with a giant keystone. The left-hand entrance has an iron roller shutter. The right-hand entrance has been infilled with brick and now contains two tall windows with orange ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. Above both goods entrances are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The left-hand corner of the building is curved with a curved ashlar stone parapet. Behind the parapet rises a slate gablet roof with two large roof-lights positioned at the outer ends of the ridge.

Abutting the right-hand end is the lower, single-storey, single-bay shed. It has an elliptical-arched goods entrance with a brick header archway and shaped giant keystone of yellow ashlar, fitted with timber double doors. Behind the parapet is a gablet roof covered in corrugated sheeting.

East (Roadside) Elevation

The east elevation is divided into five bays with slightly projecting outer bays. The central bay and the two outer bays each have a full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance with similar rusticated frames. The two outer goods entrances have been infilled with brick and now contain two tall windows with orange ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The central goods entrance retains its iron roller shutter. The head of this arch has been bricked up, though the ashlar lintels of two windows remain visible. Above each of the goods entrances are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars.

The brick parapet has pedestals only to the two outer bays on this elevation. The right-hand corner of the building is curved with a curved ashlar stone parapet. Behind the parapet is a slate gablet roof with two ridge roof-lights.

Abutting the left-hand end is the lower, single-storey, single-bay shed, which projects slightly. It has an elliptical-arched goods entrance with a brick header archway and shaped giant keystone of yellow ashlar, fitted with timber double doors.

North Elevation

The north elevation of the double-height shed is divided into three bays, with the two outer bays wider than the central bay. The central bay contains a tall, round-headed pedestrian doorway framed with blue bricks and a narrow, moulded ashlar string at impost level that continues over the archway. Above the doorway is a grey granite plaque inscribed: THIS BUOY SHED / ERECTED BY / THE CORPORATION OF THE / TRINITY HOUSE HULL / 1901 / D CHRISTIE ARCHITECT / G SHETLIFF CHAIRMAN OF THE BUOYAGE COMMITTEE. Above the plaque is a flagpole with an arrow weather vane finial, attached to the wall by iron brackets.

The right-hand bay has a similar full-width, elliptical-arched goods entrance with a rusticated frame, fitted with timber double doors beneath a steel lintel girder. The head of the archway has been boarded. Above the goods entrance are two shorter windows with shaped yellow ashlar frames and small pane glazing with iron glazing bars. The left-hand bay, which is blind at the lower level, has two similar high-level windows. The outer bays feature dentilated cornices.

South Elevations

The south elevations of both the double-height shed and the lower, single-storey shed are blind.

Interior

The interior of the main shed is divided into two unequal spaces along the line of the roof valley that runs the length of the building. Two load-bearing brick walls alternate with three wide openings; the north opening has been infilled with concrete breezeblocks and corrugated metal sheeting. The walls support I-beam steel girders spanning the openings and also support the roof trusses to each side.

On the west riverside is the largest space, which extends the full height and full length of the building. On the east roadside, mezzanine floors occupy both ends, linked by a central walkway against the east outer wall. Three large, round-headed archways in the dividing wall connect the main shed and the smaller south shed; the east and west archways are now blocked.

The original flooring is constructed of narrow stone blocks, much of which is now covered with a concrete screed. The roof trusses are constructed of bolted steel girders stamped LEEDS STEEL WORKS, along with rafters, struts and rods. The largest space has seven trusses of I-beam girders with T-shaped rafters and two T-shaped struts to each side with diagonal rods rising to the truss apexes. The narrower mezzanine side and the south shed have similar steel trusses, but with single struts to each side with one pair of diagonal rods rising to the truss apexes. The roofs are lined with diagonal timber boarding resting on narrow timber rafters. The interconnecting archways and original high-level windows have curved brickwork and stop-chamfers to the reveals. The lower windows in the goods entrances have square brick reveals.

The full-height space on the west side of the main shed has a travelling hoist attached to the I-beam girder of the second roof truss from the north end, adjacent to the goods entrance. A roller blind and mechanism framework is attached to the wall. At the south end is an inserted single-storey metal and wiring storage room.

The east side of the main shed has mezzanine floors with timber-fronted floor beams between the outer walls and the dividing load-bearing walls. A flight of timber steps in the central area leads up to the set-back linking walkway, which has a timber post and rail balustrade to the walkway and either side. Beneath the walkway is the central goods entrance roller blind and mechanism framework attached to the wall. The ground floor of the north mezzanine is separated by a breezeblock wall, with corrugated sheeting at first-floor level. The north wall has timber shelving set between projecting brick piers at ground-floor level and a built-in desk and drawers beneath the two windows at first-floor level. The first floor of the south mezzanine is partly open into the west side of the shed, now with a safety barrier of scaffolding poles.