Nicholson Institute And Leek College Of Further Education

The Nicholson Institute and Leek College of Further Education is an institute and library built between 1882 and 1884, with an extension from 1899 to 1900. It was designed by William Larner Sugden, with the extension also by him as an addition of the Silk and General Technical School. The building is constructed of brick, with rusticated detailing to the ground floor and stone dressings. The main roof is largely hidden, but features a copper dome to the tower. It is built in a Renaissance style.

The exterior is two storeys high with a basement, and features a three-bay front. The left side has a Dutch gable with a bow window on the ground floor, flanked by square turret-towers topped with domed roofs. The gable rises above the towers, topped with a pediment. The central section features a large, three-tier mullioned and transomed window, with low-relief busts in the entablature and an inscription plate with scrollwork and balustrading surmounted by urns. An advanced tower to the right provides access via a raised entrance with lamp standards and a rail. The entrance itself is Renaissance in style, with a round-arched doorway set within a pedimented case, inscribed with "Nicholson Institute." A four-tier mullioned and transomed window sits above the entrance, topped with a broken pediment. The tower includes stone pilasters and a central lunette. A copper-domed roof with a lantern tops the tower. A return elevation contains three-tier mullioned and transomed windows, and an oriel window with Ipswich-style glazing on the first floor. A rear wing features three full-height round-arched recesses with tiered mullioned and transomed windows. Fluted brick chimneys are present.

Adjoining the institute to the rear right is the former Technical College, now Leek College of Further Education. This section is constructed of brick with a plain-tiled roof and two storeys, featuring a central gable and large mullioned and transomed windows recessed within round arches on the first floor and segmental arches on the lower storey. The tympana contain low-relief plasterwork, and plain brick pilasters sit between the windows. The entrance was remodelled.

Inside the institute, many original features remain, including the entrance hall, the main staircase, a museum and picture gallery in the attic, and ground-floor studios with north lights. Much of the original joinery and plasterwork has been preserved. The technical school extension retains its main staircase, a moulded plaster tympanum with a clock over the doorway, and a moulded brass memorial.