Working men's college and attached railings, wall and piers

Working Men's College and attached railings, wall and piers

College building, 1904–1906, designed by W.D. Caröe. Red brick with stone dressings and slate mansard roof with dormers. A tall brick chimney with louvred lantern serves as fume extract from the chemistry laboratory. The facade displays asymmetrical composition in the British Free Style.

The building comprises two storeys with an attic storey and semi-basement. The main front on Crowndale Road has sixteen windows, with eight additional windows returning to Camden Street. The principal entrance is positioned to the right, marked by a stone portico with Ionic half columns carrying an entablature and segmental pediment with enriched tympanum. All windows feature fine gauged brick arches to flush sashes with keystones; glazing bars create the impression of transoms and mullions. The semi-basement has segmental-arched windows; ground and first floor windows are mostly flat-arched. A plain brick band runs at ground floor level. An asymmetrically positioned feature comprises four windows flanked by brick Doric pilasters carrying an entablature inscribed 'WORKING MEN'S COLLEGE' in the frieze, with a pediment containing a large lunette in the tympanum. To the left, a bowed bay of three windows rises from semi-basement to eaves, terminating in a cornice and parapet. The dormers feature alternating segmental and triangular pediments. The gable end of the right-hand return displays a Free Style segmental-arched projection with round-arched windows and margin glazing on three sides, forming a recess to the library. The letters 'FOUNDED 1854' are inscribed in the tympanum. The Camden Street return has an entrance with moulded stone surround and keystone, with similar sashes to the main front. The top storey contains round-arched windows and a large lunette to the right-hand gabled bay, indicating the library location on this floor.

The entrance hall gives access to a staircase beyond, with a corridor to the right leading to a large Common Room. This room has panelled dado and moulded plaster ceilings including national emblems. Two eighteenth-century marble fire surrounds from Great Ormond Street (the college's original location) are positioned at the west and east ends. The west end surround is of yellow and white marble with Ionic columns supporting an entablature with a central plaque of carved marble flowers; the east end has a simple white marble surround with coloured marble inlay.

The ground floor of the Camden Street wing contains a main hall with stage, proscenium and panelling. The first floor library features a barrel-vaulted ceiling with glazed panel top lighting; five arcaded bays with an arch at the south end opening into a recess; oak panelling and bookcases; and an oak mantelpiece above a marble fire surround. A bronze plaque commemorates Robert Henry Marks (1912). A marble head in a recessed roundel by Alexander Munro is positioned to the right of the fireplace.

The top storey comprises an art studio with a portrait of Lionel Jacob (1910) set in oak panelling and a shallow vaulted ceiling, and a science laboratory with original fitted benches. The basement contains a gymnasium, originally for boxing.

The attached cast-iron railings are mounted on a brick sleeper wall with brick piers.

The Working Men's College was founded in 1854 in Great Ormond Street by Reverend F.D. Maurice, John Ruskin and others to provide non-vocational studies in humanities, history, theology and natural sciences within a collegiate community. Social facilities and a gymnasium were integral to its accommodation alongside classrooms, laboratory and library. Art, taught by Ruskin, Rossetti and others in the early years, has remained a strong tradition.