Lillington Library

Lillington Library is a branch library built between 1959 and 1960 in the Festival of Britain style. It was designed by Henry Fedeski, of Fedeski and Rayner Architects, and constructed by George Wimpey and Co. The building combines brick and concrete construction, with decorative elements of Hornton stone, glass, slate and coloured aggregate panels. It has a T-shaped plan with irregular arms.

The building is composed of two blocks: a long, single-storey range for public library space, and a two-storey range running front to back. The single-storey range has concrete beams supporting the upper storey, which slightly overhangs the formerly central part of the seven-bay range. The ground floor is fully glazed with aluminium frames under a flat roof. End walls are built from coursed, hammer-dressed Hornton stone. The entrance bay, forming the ground floor of the front-to-rear range, projects outwards to support the first-floor level, and is flanked by polished Broughton Moor slate panels. A three-window wing has a low-pitched, gabled copper roof, while the breezeblock is clad in a checkerboard pattern of light and dark coloured aggregate panels. The side returns of the seven-window range are clad in coarse, pinkish aggregate panels on the first floor, and the rear elevation is similarly finished. The ground floor and rear are of brick.

The ground-floor library is a single, open space with a central entrance housing an issue desk. Four steps lead up to a rear corridor containing staff offices and facilities. An internal door from a service room provides access to an external ground-floor lobby, which houses a dogleg concrete staircase with square section metal balusters and ball details, leading to the first floor. The first-floor landing has opposing doors giving access to former flats, now offices.