Thomas Coram Foundation For Children And Attached Railings, Lanterns And Parapets

The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children is a detached office block built around 1937 by architect J.M. Shepherd for the Thomas Coram Foundation. This Neo-Georgian style building is constructed of brown brick and features a hipped pantile roof with dormers. It has two storeys, an attic, and a basement, with a symmetrical double front and seven windows, plus a one-window recessed extension at the west end.

The central entrance boasts a stone architrave, a bracketed cornice, and a scrolled pediment that includes a central bust of Coram. The entrance has wooden panelled double doors and a stone sill band at the ground floor. The slightly recessed sash windows are topped with gauged brick flat arches and feature exposed boxing and glazing bars. At the first floor, roundels carved in low relief with putti heads flank the scrolled pediment. The building is capped with a stone cornice and blocking course, and a central stone plaque on the second floor is inscribed with "RFTHG 1937."

Inside, the building retains three rooms from the former west wing of the Foundling Hospital, which was constructed between 1742 and 1747 and demolished in 1926. These rooms include the court room, the committee room, and the picture gallery.

The building is approached by a double flight of steps, which are flanked by piers that carry lanterns, and features a rainwater head on the extension with a relief of a lamb. Additionally, there are attached stone area parapets.