Cole Wing, Victoria and Albert Museum is a Grade II* listed building in the Kensington and Chelsea local planning authority area, England. First listed on 15 April 1969. Museum. 4 related planning applications.

Cole Wing, Victoria and Albert Museum

WRENN ID
sheer-bonework-sage
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Kensington and Chelsea
Constituency
Kensington and Bayswater MP: Joe Powell (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
15 April 1969
Type
Museum
Address
Cole Wing, Victoria and Albert Museum, Exhibition Road Sw7, SW7 2RL
OS grid reference
TQ 268 791
Coordinates
51.4973, -0.17348
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Cole Wing of the Victoria and Albert Museum, formerly known as the Royal College of Science, is a museum built between 1868 and 1873. It was designed by Lieutenant Colonel H. D. Y. Scott of the Royal Engineers in a Renaissance style. The building features ornamental details in Minton Majolica and is constructed from red brick and buff terra-cotta. It stands four storeys high and consists of ten main bays. The structure has projecting wings at either end, topped with pedimented pavilions above the cornice, and is connected by a gallery that features a balustraded arcade of 21 bays supported by moulded terra-cotta consoles. The ground floor includes a larger arcade with seven bays. The first and second floors are simpler in design, but the nine square-headed windows are adorned with enriched surrounds and intricate carvings. Although the building was initially planned by Captain Fowke, it was completed by Scott after Fowke's death.

Local climate

Cole Wing, Victoria and Albert Museum sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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 — 4 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
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. K2 Telephone Kiosk Outside the Victoria and Albert Museum Grade II 32 m
  2. Victoria and Albert Museum Grade I 128 m
  3. Southside Halls, Imperial College Grade II 171 m
  4. Two K6 telephone boxes in front of the Victoria and Albert Museum Grade II 178 m
  5. K2 Telephone Kiosk Grade II 218 m
  6. EXHIBITION ROAD SW7 (See details for further address information) Grade II 219 m
  7. The Oratory House (Block Parallel to Brompton Road, Brompton Oratory) Grade II* 230 m
  8. Cabmen's Shelter in Centre of Road Outside Oratory House Grade II 236 m
  9. 5, Cromwell Place SW7 Grade II 236 m
  10. Natural History Museum, Front Lodge and Gates, Gatepiers and Railings Grade I 241 m