Camden Arts Centre And Attached Piers And Wall

The Camden Arts Centre, originally a library, was built in 1897 to a design by Arnold S. Tayler. It was extended in 1909 and again in 1926. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and slate roofs, situated on a corner site. The Arkwright Road elevation is largely symmetrical, featuring two outer gabled wings that project forward, alongside three inner gabled bays.

The left-hand wing has a two-and-a-half storey design, featuring a four-light oriel window above three single lights, all set beneath an embattled parapet. A louvred light is present in the gable. Brick sill and impost bands are visible. A polygonal belfry sits atop the ridge, with a solid base, elaborate decorative elements, and an ogival cap topped with a finial. The main block’s bays are divided by stepped stone-dressed buttresses. Mullion and transom windows of two-by-three lights are situated beneath gables, flanked by smaller two-by-two light windows. A forward-projecting, buttressed porch provides central access. A stone parapet with a blind arcade sits above a Tudor-arched entrance. A two-light window is positioned above the entrance, beneath a gablet. Double flights of stone steps lead down between a brick retaining wall with moulded stone coping. The ground floor windows follow the rhythm of the upper storey, featuring a mix of mullion and transom windows and casements. The right-hand wing incorporates a pair of stone niches, each sheltered by a canopy at first floor level, and a louvred gable light. A square belfry is set back on the ridge. The Finchley Road elevation is two stories high with five bays, the central three projecting forward on square bays, each beneath a gablet. First-floor stone mullion and transom windows alternate between two-by-two and two-by-three lights, connected by a continuous flush stone band at transom level. Ground floor windows match the upper floor with timber casements in the 2nd to 4th bays. A former entrance is present on the left, featuring an elliptical head above a four-light overlight with small leaded panes, all beneath an elliptical parapet.

The interior rooms, now used as studios, feature canted ribbed ceilings with original ventilation grilles. A room to the right of the entrance contains an iron spiral staircase leading to an upper level.

Attached to the Arkwright Road elevation are a pair of gate piers built of banded brickwork and stone, topped with stone coping and an iron overthrow. A low parapet wall connects these piers, some topped with ball finials, and leads to a secondary entrance.