Victoria Institute With Attached Wall, Piers And Gates

The Victoria Institute, with its attached wall, piers, and gates, was built around 1896, with later additions and alterations including a former Girls School constructed around 1909 to the rear. The School of Art and Science was likely designed by J W Simpson and Milner Allen, while the Girls School is believed to be the work of the City Architect, Mr Parker.

The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, with terracotta dressings, and a plain tile roof. It is built in a free Renaissance style. The main facade is irregular in form, spanning three and four storeys with attics. It features irregular gables, a dormer window, and an embattled octagonal turret topped with a weather vane. The windows are predominantly 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-light mullion windows set within terracotta surrounds. A central flight of steps leads to an entrance inscribed with "Art and Science" in metal lettering, featuring double part-glazed doors and a fanlight, all within a glazed two-storey porch. The left return displays a similar irregularity with five bays that project and recede. A central entrance is framed by double panelled doors, a fanlight with decorative glazing bars, pilasters and a round-arched hood on scrolled brackets, with a terracotta panel depicting two girls and the inscription "SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS." Further windows are mullion and mullion-and-transom lights in terracotta surrounds. A parapet topped with a cartouche sits above the centre, with a gable to the right bay.

The interior retains a staircase with cast-iron balusters.

A wall and gates run along the left return. The wall has terracotta banding and copings, and the piers are square with shaped caps.

Historically, an earlier map (1905) shows the City Museum and the School of Art and Science connected by a narrow link, which was replaced by the Girls School by 1928. Nikolaus Pevsner described the facade as successful, noting its similarity to the Library, Museum and Art Gallery in Foregate Street. The Victoria Institute forms an integral group with those buildings.