Former Waterloo Road Fire Station

Former Waterloo Road Fire Station

This four-storey building at 150 Waterloo Road was constructed between 1908 and 1911 for the London County Council, possibly designed by HFT Cooper under the superintendence of Owen Fleming and Charles Canning Winmill. The building is now in use as offices with a ground floor bar.

The structure employs a striking variety of materials: the lower storey is faced in brown glazed brick on a granite base, whilst the upper floors are of red brick with Portland stone dressings. The roof is slated mansard.

The architectural style is a free interpretation of Edwardian Baroque. The principal front on Waterloo Road is symmetrically composed. The ground floor contains segmental-headed sash windows and three asymmetrically placed vehicular entrances with folding doors. Above these are two sections of lettering reading "LCC FIRE BRIGADE STATION A.D. 1910" and "WATERLOO ROAD", with a datestone marking the opening positioned between the double doors beneath the LCC frieze.

The first floor, set above a moulded cill band, is dominated by seven closely spaced windows with paired sashes under segmental heads, each crowned with advanced triple keystones. The second floor contains three groups of three taller sash windows with Gibbs surrounds and advanced keystones, between which sit two smaller circular windows. The fourth floor, above a plain cill band, has seven smaller windows with paired sashes.

The roofline features a deep projecting dentil cornice, four large brick stacks, and seven tall dormer windows alternating between segmental and triangular pediments.

The short north elevation to Holmes Terrace follows a similar treatment. The south elevation to Pear Place displays irregular fenestration, includes a side door with a Gibbs surround, and has a flat-roofed two-storey block in glazed brick projecting to the rear. The rear elevation incorporates a brick stair tower and a series of open metal balconies providing access to the firemen's accommodation on the upper floors.

The building was erected in 1910 as Waterloo Road Fire Station for the London County Council. From 1889 the Fire Brigade had formed part of the LCC, and from 1896 new stations were designed by a group of architects led by Fleming and Winmill, both formerly of the LCC Housing Department. They applied experimental methods developed in social housing design to create distinctive and commanding fire stations, often built to bespoke designs. Many retained the earlier arrangement whereby firemen's accommodation was provided in flats above the appliance bays, accessed via external balconies from a projecting central staircase—a plan adopted here. However, the treatment of the station facades was consistently distinctive.

By 1986 the building had ceased its original use and became the headquarters of the London Ambulance Service. The Ambulance Service later transferred to a new building further down Waterloo Road. The building is now occupied as a restaurant and bar, known as The Fire Station, with offices on the upper floors.