University College Chemistry Laboratory and Attached Railings and Wall is a Grade II listed building in the Camden local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 May 1974. Laboratory. 9 related planning applications.
University College Chemistry Laboratory and Attached Railings and Wall
- WRENN ID
- lost-keep-honey
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Camden
- Constituency
- Holborn and St Pancras
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 May 1974
- Type
- Laboratory
- Address
- University College Chemistry Laboratory and Attached Railings and Wall, Gower Place
- OS grid reference
- TQ 295 823
- Coordinates
- 51.52535, -0.1343
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The University College Chemistry Laboratory, built between 1912 and 1913 by F.M. Simpson, features a stone facade with a later slate mansard roof and dormers. The building has two main storeys, an attic, and a basement. Its symmetrical facade is designed in a modified Neo-Greek style, with projecting end and central bays and a window arrangement of 2:8:3:8:3. The main entrance is a pedimented structure with a distyle-in-antis design, featuring columns with Tower of Winds capitals that extend from the ground to the first floor, supporting an entablature inscribed with "ANNO DOMI MCMXIII UNIVERSITY OF LONDON UNIV COLL" and adorned with paterae. A double flight of steps leads to an architraved doorway, which is accentuated by console brackets that carry a pediment. The flanking bays have shallow pilasters that rise from a rusticated basement podium, positioned between the window bays and supporting a simplified entablature. The windows are recessed metal transom and mullion types, with the first floor featuring lugged aprons embellished with paterae. The building is topped with a parapet.
Additionally, there are attached cast-iron railings and a stone wall surrounding the areas, with box-form candelabra flanking the entrance steps. The buildings surrounding the quadrangle of University College contribute to a cohesive group.
Local climate
University College Chemistry Laboratory and Attached Railings and Wall sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 9 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
- 1 Telephone Exchange, 29 College Street, Glasgow
- 2 Crew Building, University Of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Alexander Crum Brown Road, Edinburgh
- 3 Joseph Black Building, University Of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh
- 4 Royal Academy of Arts
- 5 Memorial Building, including boundary wall and gates, Bangor University
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- 23, Gower Place
- Two Observatories in University College Quadrangle
- University College (University of London) and attached railings to north and south wings
- University College Hospital General Block Only and Attached Railings
- Number 26 and Attached Railings
- Friends House, and Drayton House, with walls, railings, and garden to east
- Lamp Post on Corner of Gordon Square and Gordon Street
- University College Hospital Medical School, Nurses Home 1907 Building and Attached Railings
- Numbers 168 and 170 and Attached Railings
- Numbers 16 to 25 and Attached Railings