Former public air raid shelter and gas decontamination centre, Westbourne Library, Ipswich

MATERIALS: the building was designed to be blast proof, and later gas proof, and is constructed of reinforced concrete with a flat concrete roof.

EXTERIOR: the building is L-shaped in plan, and of a single storey with a tower over the main entrance, and eaves-height, metal-framed, Crittal windows, produced in Witham in Essex, running the length of the two wings. The windows in the first floor of the tower are replacements. The line of the windows is emphasised by horizontal channelled rustication and recessed eaves, a detailing which is designed to mirror the facade of the adjacent Broomhill Lido (listed at Grade II) and give the structure a Moderne facade. Originally, there was a door to the north of the main entrance but this has been blocked and the windows in the north elevation have been reconfigured.

INTERIOR: internally, public air raid shelters had few distinguishing features. Gas decontamination centres, however, had a distinctive arrangement comprising an air lock, undressing area, eye douce and showers, drying rooms and dressing rooms. Metal columns running centrally through Westbourne library, in the wing facing Sherrington Road, indicate a central division possibly dividing civilian and military personnel decontamination areas (Lowry, B.(ed) 1995). What is now the fire escape in the south elevation of this block was the door to the airlock and the beginning of the decontamination process. Other internal partitions have been removed and the rear wing has no evidence of having had subdivisions. In the rear wing three sky lights have been cut through the roof to add light to the library.