Telephone Buildings

The Telephone Buildings in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, is a former telephone exchange and offices built around 1900. This three-storey structure is constructed of brick and terracotta, topped with a plain tiled roof. The eclectic architectural style features a main block with three narrow bays and flanking towers, all designed with elongated vertical spaces.

To the right of the building, there is a doorway adorned with terracotta scrollwork and lettering that identifies the building as "Telephone Buildings." The entrance includes an ornate six-panelled door with stained glass above, set within a segmentally pedimented head supported by bulbous recessed columns with rusticated surrounds and high bases.

The central window is segmentally arched and features a mullioned and transomed oriel bay above it. Above this, a balustraded parapet is present, along with three round-arched upper windows. The outer first-floor windows consist of two mullioned and transomed lights, each topped with shallow pedimented heads decorated with egg-and-dart motifs. The lower left-hand window has a moulded terracotta architrave, and there is a moulded string course and eaves band running along the building.

The towers are embellished with decorative terracotta panels, a corbel table, and bell-cast tiled roofs topped with leaded turrets supported by bulbous balusters. A central dormer in the roof features three lights and a pediment. Additionally, wrought-iron balustrading creates a ridge cresting.

Adjoining the main block to the right is a lower block with two bays, featuring a coped gable and a segmentally arched three-light window. There is also a doorway to the right of this block, which is framed by terracotta moulding and topped with a pediment.