Guy Gibson Hall (Former Station Headquarters)

This building is a station headquarters, constructed between 1936 and 1937. Designed by A. Bulloch, who served as architectural advisor to the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings, it is built of Flemish bond brick with interlocking clay tile roofing to parapetted hipped roofs, a concrete structure with an asphaltic finish to the flat section.

The building has a main two-story range with a central entrance leading to a large circulating hall. A central passageway runs through the main axis to a rear doorway. Flanking the main range are single-story pavilions with hipped roofs, and a flat-roofed link building connects to another hipped unit at the rear, creating an asymmetrical "H" shape. The main open-well staircase is located within the link building.

Windows throughout are small-paned timber sashes, with brick voussoir heads and concrete sills. Door surrounds feature channelled rustication. The central two-story range has five bays with 15-pane sashes. A central pair of panelled doors with a radial fanlight, set in responds with a moulded arch keystone, remains original. The pavilions, on either side of the main range, each have four bays of 15-pane sashes on the front and rear. The right (north) pavilion has a semi-circular entrance with a rusticated surround, leading to a panelled door with an overlight. The three-story link block has a three-bay elevation to the south with 12-pane sashes flanking a central bay which has 8-pane sashes above panelled double doors with an overlight, all set in a rusticated semi-circular arched surround. The transverse rear range, similar to the pavilions with a high parapet, has returns to two bays at each end and a seven-bay west elevation with 15-pane sashes throughout. Original hopper heads and downpipes are present on all elevations.

The interior is plain, retaining a dog-leg staircase and some original joinery.

This is a distinctive design from 1935 by an Air Ministry architect. The detailing is restrained, but the massing, spacing, and proportions are carefully considered. The design reflects a neo-Georgian style popular at the time, influenced by the Royal Fine Arts Commission and the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens. Manby ranks highly amongst post-1934 RAF stations, alongside Hullavington, for its architectural unity and completeness.