Bermondsey Municipal Offices And Attached Railing And Brackets

Bermondsey Municipal Offices, built in 1928-1930, were designed by Henry Tansley and constructed in coursed ashlar with a parapeted roof. The building’s design emulates the Greek Revival style of the early 19th century. It is a two-storey building with a basement and a 9-window front. All windows have flat surrounds with moulded architraves. A grand entrance, set under a giant tetrastyle Ionic portico, is centrally positioned. The tympanum of the pediment displays the Borough arms in low relief, with an anthemion at the peak above a blocky attic storey. The portico’s entablature features a dentil cornice that runs across the entire elevation, articulated by plain two-storey pilaster strips; a shallow rebate defines the right corner. The entrance is accented by an elaborate cornice with a paterae frieze, flanked by small windows with original design grilles. Original railings and torchères are situated on either side of the entrance, and railings enclose the basement area. The building returns to the right for 9 bays, with the corner bay wider than the others; its first-floor window is framed by Ionic distyle ‘in antis’ and features a balcony. Railings define a narrow area to the side. An entrance in the 7th bay features an iron grille and an original 8-panel door. A plaque to the right of the main entrance commemorates the foundation stone laying by Alderman Harry C Bateman and acknowledges the architect, the general manager of the works, and the supervisor of the works. The interior's notable features include a rectangular vestibule entered through a veined marble aedicule, with similar aedicules and mouldings in the entrance hall, where Doric columns support an elliptical gallery. An imperial staircase is lit by electric torchères. The first-floor gallery is roofed by an elliptical dome supported on coupled columns. The pavement is of an original design. The opulent interior decoration is attributed to the architect’s acquisition of richly veined marble features from a Park Lane house demolished in 1927-28, explained by the building’s function as an annexe to a now-demolished structure and the architect’s artistic choices.