British Ceramic Research Association

British Ceramic Research Association Headquarter and Laboratories

This building was constructed between 1948 and 1951 to designs by Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath. It is built on a steel frame with brick and stone elevations and a tile roof.

The building is oriented roughly north-south, with its principal elevation facing Queens Road to the east. The main block contains a central entrance hall with axial corridors on either side, and projecting rear wings at the centre and each end.

The principal elevation is dominated by a central portico of six tall, baseless octagonal columns that rise the full height of the facade to support a pediment above. The columns are clad in tiles and have stylised Ionic capitals derived from those on Stockholm Concert Hall, though those are Corinthian. The pediment features plain mouldings and a blank tympanum. Above the portico in the roof is a tall cupola modelled on that at Stockholm City Hall. Behind the columns lies full-height ashlar with the main entrance doors in a moulded surround; the words BRITISH CERAMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATION are carved above the doors. Flanking the entrance are tall windows that light the full-height entrance hall within. The steps rising to the main entrance are flanked by metal ramped railings in an Art Deco style.

Either side of the central portico are five-bay ranges with projecting two-bay wings at each end and tall roofs with some dormer windows above. The elevations are of brick with a stone plinth throughout. The windows are timber sash with cambered heads at ground floor and flat heads at first floor, all with stone keystones. A continuous stone cornice runs at eaves level.

The side elevations continue the style and detailing, with stone architraves to their central ground floor windows.

The rear elevation displays three storeys due to varying ground levels, with a pronounced basement storey in rusticated stone. The end wings use differing shades of brick to create the effect of pilasters, while the central blocks use full-height sections of darker, profiled brick to achieve this effect.

The main entrance opens into a double-height entrance hall with full-height octagonal columns on three sides. These have stylised capitals and support a ceiling of compartmentalised plaster panels. An imperial stair rises in two flights towards the front of the building, with a gallery across the base of the full-height windows, before rising again to the first floor landing. The stair has curved and ramped sides clad in bronze, surmounted by bronze handrails with intermittent moulded balusters. The walls adjacent to the windows have plaster detailing in a stylised Greek motif, which is repeated in etching in the window glazing and on internal timber doors either side of the main entrance. The floor of the entrance hall has modern tiling with a section of Minton style tiles, and the walls of the lower level retain original tiling in a diamond pattern. The flooring of the stairs themselves appears to be original tiling.

Two commemorative plaques hang on the rear wall of the entrance hall. One is headed BRITISH CERAMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATION and commemorates the forming of the then BCRA, with names of members of the council on the occasion of the building's opening in 1951. It also records the architects Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath, and the contractors B Bailey and Co. The other plaque commemorates the opening of the building by His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

To the rear of the entrance hall in the projecting rear wing is a large room which has been modernised except for its parquet flooring. Either side of the entrance hall, central corridors provide access to offices and laboratories on each level. Some rooms retain plain cornicing in the style of the period, and some original doors, handles and skirting survive.

At the end of each wing is a secondary stair with handrails in a similar style to the main stair but clad in chrome.