Kensington Fire Station

Kensington Fire Station

Fire station and flats built 1903-4 by HFT Cooper of the Fire Brigade Branch of the London County Council Architect's Section. Refurbished 2006-7 with some internal alterations.

The building is constructed of Portland stone ashlar to the front, with red brick laid in English bond, rubbed red brick and stone dressings elsewhere, and a Westmorland slate roof.

The plan consists of a deep, flat-roofed frontage block of 3 storeys flanked by single-storey wings, with a 3-bay appliance room to the ground floor; the central bay has an annexe at the rear. This block abuts a broader 5-storey block at the rear, forming a T-plan arrangement with the stair located at the centre of the junction between front and rear blocks.

The exterior is designed in Edwardian Baroque style with Arts and Crafts mannerisms. The front is boldly symmetrical in Portland stone with chanelled rustication to the lower courses and three appliance bays. The central 3-storey bay features a segmental arched appliance bay with rusticated voussoirs and keystone bearing a coat of arms; a dedication stone to the left is dated 21 July 1904. The flanking one-storey bays are square-headed with rusticated voussoirs, keystones and balustraded parapets, each with central lanterns to the roofs and part-glazed timber doors. The return to the east bay has Diocletian windows. The upper floors to the central bay have rusticated quoins and a central projecting bay, also quoined, with coved returns and a recessed sash window. A projecting sill to the first floor is supported by heavy brackets. The cornice breaks into a segmental arch above the top window, with a blocking course following the shape of the bay. The returns of the central bay are stone-faced for the first few feet with an oculus to each floor, then red brick; the first floor (not visible from the street) has narrow windows with tile-creasing heads set beneath segmental relieving arches, while the second floor has a stone-faced clerestorey of paired mullioned casements with metal glazing bars beneath a stone cornice and brick blocking course.

The taller rear block contains 9 bays with the central 3 breaking forward to align with the lower front block. It features slightly recessed multi-pane sashes with exposed boxes; those to the outer bays are narrower with gauged brick heads and projecting stucco keystones. A stone projecting bracketed cornice and blocking course runs across the front. The roof is hipped with tall slab chimneystacks. The rear elevation has segmental headed windows. An iron and timber drill tower is attached to the building.

The interior of the west bay of the appliance room was subdivided by a full-height glazed wall inserted in 2006-7 for office use. The appliance room is supported by cast-iron columns carrying the upper floors and includes a glazed lantern to the roof. The wall to the rear room contains a round-headed arched doorway with a panelled stable door and a glazed door with fanlight set in a recessed arch. A moulded segmental arch extends over the stair well, which features an iron balustrade. Original pole houses with timber doors survive. The upper floors retain some original joinery and fittings including a few simple fireplaces, though they have been substantially modernised.

Kensington Fire Station was built to replace an earlier station of 1871 in King Street, which was demolished to allow the expansion of Barker's Department Store. The design examined fire station practices from other cities worldwide to achieve a solution enabling rapid response while accommodating families: single men who crewed the first turn-out were housed directly above the appliance room, while married quarters occupied the rear block. The station was one of the first to incorporate sliding poles for firemen, a feature copied from American fire-fighting practice.

The building is part of a remarkable series of fire stations built by the London County Council between 1900 and 1914. From 1896, new stations were designed by a group of architects led by Owen Fleming and Charles Canning Winmill, both formerly of the LCC Housing Department, who brought experimental methods developed for social housing to the Fire Brigade Division (as the department was called from 1899). They drew on a huge variety of influences to create unique and commanding stations, each built to a bespoke design and plan. This exciting period in fire station design continued until the outbreak of the First World War, although some standardisation of design occurred in the latter stages.