St Brides Foundation Institute And Library

Educational institute and library. Built 1893-4 by Robert C. Murray, with some 20th-century modifications including a 1994 conversion of the pool to theatre by Lloyd Leroy Architects. The building is constructed of red brick with red sandstone dressings and has a tiled steeply pitched roof to parapet. The design is Queen Anne style with 'Wrennaisance' detailing that refers to Wren's adjacent St. Bride's Church.

The exterior comprises an irregular composition of 10 bays plus 2 bays to a rounded right-hand end. The left six bays are 2 storeys plus dormers; the right side has an extra storey within the same building height. Two entrances serve the left portion and a further entrance accesses the curved right-hand bay. The entrances are square-headed, those to the left having curving open pediments. The ground floor features round-headed windows set in bands. Above these are square-headed architraved windows containing 2-light casements with timber mullion and transom, fitted with leaded panes. The dormers have segmental pediments and are fitted with 2-light casements. The six-bay range to the left is topped with a segmental pediment over the centre 2 bays. The right range breaks forward to centre with a segmental pediment at cornice level over the central bay and a three-bay triangular open pediment rising into the roof storey, with a central round-headed window flanked by oculi. The building features a central fleche and tall chimneys.

Interior features of interest include a robust structural frame designed to accommodate the heavy floor loads required by printing machinery and plates. The former reading room in the front has strapwork plaster ceiling, dado panelling and pilasters between tall windows. The former basement pool, converted to theatre use in 1994 with the pool filled-in, retains some original wooden changing cubicles and two galleries with cast-iron balustrade supported on cast-iron columns. The former basement laundry, used as the theatre bar in 2005, preserves tracks for rolling drying racks. In the curved west end, the board room contains a 17th-century style chimneypiece. Above this, the Printing Library displays glass-fronted bookcases and 2 over-door roundels with high-relief profiles of philanthropist Passmore Edwards and printer William Blades, with further freestanding Gothic-style bookcases in the smaller Blades Library. A marble foundation plaque is located in the entrance hall. Above the entrance stands a bust of Samuel Richardson by George Frampton, donated by Passmore Edwards in 1901.

The St. Bride Foundation Institute was established in 1893 for printing education, responding to the movement for technical education in Britain that developed in the 1880s as the nation sought to match international competitors. The City of London's old parochial charities, under a scheme devised by the 1890-1 Charity Commissioners, directed funds towards technical training in various industries, including printing, which was rapidly developing at that time. The institute provided strong social and recreational functions through an original swimming pool, gymnasium, lending library, and a collection of printing books that had belonged to London printer William Blades. London philanthropist and patron of architecture Passmore Edwards donated funds to support the venture. The architectural competition was assessed by architect Basil Champneys, who had restored St. Bride's Church and built the adjacent vicarage.