35 And 37, Albany Terrace

Nos. 35 and 37 Albany Terrace, Worcester

Two semi-detached houses, now subdivided into flats, dating from around 1835 with later additions and alterations. The buildings form part of one of Worcester's important Regency developments, situated on the north side of Britannia Square.

The houses are constructed in painted stucco and painted brick with red terracotta dressings and a red clay-tile roof spanning two bays. Parapets feature on the principal west elevation and gables. Hexagonal and cylindrical brick stacks with ornate oversailing details are positioned at the gable ends, party wall, and rear east wings, mostly capped with pots. A timber verandah with glazed roof and a canted bay window in timber with a clay-tile roof are notable features. The plan is asymmetric and double-depth, with main entrances on the west and north elevations. Projecting wings at the north and south ends are connected to a service range at the centre of the rear east elevation.

The west elevation displays two storeys and an attic with five first-floor windows. Stucco detailing includes a plinth, recessed rectangular panels and moulded string courses above ground-floor windows of the bays, similar string courses above first-floor windows of the bays linked between bays, and stucco scored to represent ashlar. Full-height semi-octagonal bays to the left and right of the entrance each have hipped tile roofs behind castellated parapets; the parapet to the main roof rises in steps behind each bay roof, terminating in terracotta-capped cylindrical finials in brick. Multi-pane mullion and transom windows feature on the first and ground floors except the right-hand bay, which has 1/1 sashes. All windows sit in plain splayed reveals with chamfered sills. The extreme left of the elevation is angled back at 45 degrees in plan; a ground-floor canted bay under a lean-to roof sits to the right of a chamfered corner. A four-flush-panel door with later planted chamfered mouldings and a two-pane overlight provides the entrance. A later verandah links the full-height bays. A flat-roof dormer with side-hung casements breaks the roofline.

The north elevation comprises the north elevation of the rear wing to the left and the gable end of the main range to the right, with corners of the gable end angled back at 45 degrees. This elevation displays two storeys and an attic with five first-floor windows, the left-hand window being blank. Stucco detailing includes a plinth, a moulded Tudor-style door case, a stepped parapet to a bay, label moulding above an attic window, a corbel bracket and pentagonal base to the chimney stack, and dentilled eaves to the left. Fenestration includes 2/2, 6/6 and 8/8 sashes, mullion and transom, and a six-pane fixed light, alongside a 20th-century insertion. Windows to the left sit in plain reveals with sills; windows to the right sit in plain splayed reveals with chamfered sills. A first-floor canted bay to the right, supported on two tubular metal stanchions with a hipped tile roof, projects forward. Beneath the bay, an open archway contains a pair of vertically boarded and studded entrance doors recessed on the angle.

The rear elevation is in painted brick with a dentilled eaves course matching that of the north elevation. Fenestration includes 8/8 sashes, mullion and transom, and 20th-century replacement windows. First-floor oriel windows face the gable ends of the wings. A brick and slate single-storey service range occupies the centre rear. A later semi-octagonal, single-storey, flat-roofed brick bay extends from the south gable end of the main range.

The interiors contain some original features, notably a staircase with a wreathed handrail and slender turned balusters.

The boundary wall adjoining the service range is constructed of brick with terracotta copings, standing approximately two metres high. It is castellated to the west, east, and part of the south. The northern section is approximately 0.5 metres high with piers rising to approximately 1.5 metres with timber infill panels. A pedestrian entrance with a vertically boarded door sits in the south-east corner; a vehicular entrance occupies the north-east corner, with castellations continuing over both openings. A 20th-century vehicular opening lies further to the south. 20th-century steel pedestrian gates provide access to the main entrances via the northern section of the wall.