Senate House And Institute Of Education (University Of London) And Attached Railings

Senate House and Institute of Education, University of London

Senate House and Institute of Education stands on the east side of Malet Street in Camden. Built between 1932 and 1938, it was designed by Charles Holden and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The building employs brick load-bearing construction with Portland stone facing.

The design is symmetrical but incomplete, comprising a central tower flanked by two courtyard ranges on either side. The completed southern half contains the ceremonial and administrative functions of the University of London. The northern half houses the Institute of Historical Research and School of Slavonic Studies, with the north-east wing remaining unfinished. The original architectural concept was a single continuous building extending the length of Torrington Square, but this was abandoned as construction began. A model of this original proposal is displayed on the first floor balcony of Senate House.

The centrepiece is an 18-storey tower, with a higher fourth floor containing the University library above which offices and bookstack rise in recessed stages marked by broad central buttresses on the east and west sides. The tower has six windows at first floor level. Four and five storey wings flank the tower, each with a ten-window forward return and fourteen windows across the width. Beneath enriched flat canopies sit two square-headed entrances on each side of the central buttress, all fitted with two-leaf glass doors with vertically patterned metal grills. Above the canopies are small rectangular windows with patterned grills and keystones. The windows throughout are square-headed and recessed with metal frames; those at first floor level on the tower are elongated with enriched spandrel panels and flanked by medium-sized windows at the angles, which have balconies culminating in lunettes at sixth floor level. From the second to the eighteenth floors, small vertically set windows appear in groups of three until the penultimate stage, where they become continuous. The flanking wings feature metal balconies to windows at the angles. Flat roofs are topped with plain bands at parapet levels. The east facade is similarly treated, and inner courtyards follow the same design vocabulary, with hopper heads dated 1936.

The imposing entrance hall at the base of the tower displays an Egyptianate character, with travertine floor and walls punctuated by broad fluted pilasters. The semi-open space allows passage through to doors leading south to Senate House and north to the Institute of Historical Research and School of Slavonic Studies.

Within Senate House, the principal spaces feature travertine-clad walls and floors, with moulded plaster ceilings incorporating flat panel patterns and embellishments based on a London plane tree motif. Staircases are floored in travertine with bronzed balustrades designed as stylised Ionic columns. The principal entrance hall rises through two levels, with a first floor balcony displaying an elaborate bronzed balustrade. Holden's original model of the complete scheme is exhibited on this balcony.

The ground floor contains MacMillan Hall to the east, named after Lord MacMillan, first Chairman of the University Court. It has a square panelled ceiling, travertine walls decorated with fluted pilasters at the ends and sides set with acoustic panels to Holden's design and coloured glass, a teak floor, and original light fittings. Memorials commemorate HRH the Queen Mother, Chancellor from 1955 to 1980, and the Princess Royal, Chancellor from 1981 onwards. William Beveridge Hall, named after the University's Vice Chancellor from 1926 to 1928, retains dado panelling set with brass filets in Greek key pattern beneath acoustic quilting, with semi-permanent seating and a stage.

A processional stair on the first floor leads to Chancellor's Hall, which features square panelled timber to window recesses, travertine cladding, and square panelled plaster ceilings with inlay pattern floors, original doors and fittings. To the east, a suite of rooms arranged around a courtyard includes the Court Room and Senate Room. The Senate Room and its ante rooms are fully panelled in English walnut, the former of double height with trabeated ceilings and original fixed seating arranged in stepped rows like a council chamber with a dais and bronze uplighters. The ante rooms contain heraldic glass by E Bossanyi dated 1937. On the north side are a committee room and a processional suite of corridors with dado panelling and moulded cornices, retaining original furnishings and fittings.

The second floor contains staff common rooms, and the third floor contains common rooms and refectories which originally had painted mural ceilings. Those in the refectory remain hidden beneath later acoustic tiles. A war memorial tablet is located in a corridor. The fourth floor houses double-height libraries. Two general reading rooms, the Middlesex Libraries, are finished in oak with original bookshelves and fittings of English walnut. The Goldsmith's Library to the south features glazed bookcases and a ceiling of cypress wood and stained glass by E Bossanyi. Above these are bookstacks supported by a steel frame on a concrete raft. The offices retain original doors, lettering and fittings throughout.

The Institute of Historical Research and School of Slavonic Studies occupy the northern section with a ground-floor entrance hall of single-storey height, with travertine floors and finishes similar in style but simpler than those of Senate House.

Attached cast-iron railings sit on a stone sleeper wall, featuring gates of radial pattern with central bosses containing coats of arms. The pillars have pilasters and geometric enrichment. Those at the gates are surmounted by rectangular down-lighter lamps with small diffused panes and topped by stepped features.

The building is a remarkably unaltered ensemble of 1930s design, with a high proportion of highly decorated ceremonial spaces set above functional offices. When completed in 1937, it was the tallest building in London apart from St Paul's Cathedral.