Westcliff Library

Westcliff Library is a branch library built between 1958 and 1960 by P F Burridge, the Southend Borough Architect. It is an elegant one-storey building with a rectangular plan, featuring a staff room and workroom on the left and a projecting bicycle compound on the front right. The library is set within a paved terrace that includes seating and planters at the front, as well as a patio at the back, which is an integral part of the design. The structure is steel-framed with yellow brick walls and metal windows in timber sub-frames. The front of the building has a largely glazed wall with double doors for the entrance, while the rear elevation also features extensive glazing with doors leading to the patio garden. The west elevation includes full-height glazing on the left side and a brick wall on the right. Throughout the building, there are projecting weather-boarded eaves. The flat roof has a central six-bay ridge and furrow clerestorey. Attached to the front right is a walled bicycle compound with double iron gates that have horizontal bars set at regular intervals along vertical supports. Inside, the library has a boarded ceiling with fluorescent lighting, a suspended curved internal wall with built-in seating, a panelled wall in the entrance hall, and a curved issuing desk.