Fulton Block, Raf Cosford

The Fulton Block is a large combined barracks block, institute, and mess, constructed between 1938 and 1939. It was designed in 1937 by J H Binge, architect to the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings, based on drawings numbered 7656-7660/37. The building is of cavity brick construction with a flat concrete roof, now covered in sheet metal, and features concrete detailing.

The design consists of a central block, housing a ground-floor dining room and a first-floor institute, flanked by barracks blocks arranged around an internal service road running east to west. Four projecting blocks extend from each side of the central block on both the north and south elevations.

The architecture is in the Moderne style, with steel casement windows throughout. The imposing central block features a row of tall windows recessed within and accentuated by pilaster buttresses rising to a plain entablature. The projecting end bays have double-leaf doors with decorative overlights, set within a blank stone surround incorporating a wreathed roundel in a recessed tympanum framed by a semi-circular arch. The three-story accommodation blocks have curved ends. Tall entrance bays are located between the blocks, each featuring a stairwell light and a canopied doorway with pilasters projecting forward to create balconies leading to walkways; the string and blocking courses extend continuously into the accommodation blocks. The east and west elevations are also three stories high, with a continuous canopy above the ground-floor doors and windows. These elevations are dominated by the central block, which features a massive moulded arch providing access to the internal service road.

This building was funded by Lady Fulton, the widow of a pioneer in British military aviation. It was designed to provide permanent accommodation for 1,000 men, alongside mess rooms, an institute, and administrative offices. It represents a significant architectural advancement for RAF buildings of the interwar period, drawing inspiration from contemporary mansion flat designs. Its unified planning and design approach is comparable to buildings constructed for foreign air forces, particularly in Italy. The expansion of the RAF after 1934 highlighted the inadequacy of existing facilities at Halton, leading to the planning of a new training establishment for 4,000 personnel at Cosford, which opened as No 2 School of Technical Training in August 1938. During the Second World War, over 70,000 engine and airframe mechanics and armourers received training at Cosford.