Former Fire Station

The building is a former fire station, now converted to studios and flats, constructed between 1909 and 1911 by the London County Council Architects' Department Fire Brigade Section. Drawings dated 1910 were signed by W.E. Reilly, superintending architect to the LCC, and the station may have been designed by W.E. Brooks, who was responsible for the similar Tooting Fire Station of 1907. It is constructed in a lively eclectic style, typical of the Department's taste at the time, in red brick with timber small-pane sashes and steep-pitched tile roofs. The building is four storeys high, above three ground-floor appliance bays and an office. The facade is symmetrical, with a wider central section featuring a three-storey canted oriel flanked by paired timber sashes. The upper two floors are faced with glazed red brick, with pilasters faced with rendered capitals and four small arches at ground-floor level. Ground floor appliance bays have timber panelled and part-glazed doors, and retain timber panelled and part-glazed doors under an applied metal lettering stating "L.C.C. FIRE BRIGADE STATION A.D. 1910". A stone plaque between two of the right-hand ports reads: "This station was opened by Jocelyn Brandon Esq. Chairman of the Fire Brigade Committee London County Council on May 19th 1911." The office to the right has a replaced door set behind curved, rusticated sides, with a deep advanced cornice under a semicircular arch. The pitched tiled roof has deep eaves and a pair of gables at each end, accompanied by prominent chimneys. The rear elevation includes a pair of advanced stairtowers. The station was originally built as Brunswick Road Fire Station, opening in May 1911 at a cost of £10,428 and constructed by Messrs H.L. Holloway. It was part of a campaign to expand the London Fire Brigade following the Cripplegate fire of 1897, resulting in the opening of 43 new stations between 1899 and 1914.