Bedford House, Formerly The Bedford Institute Association

Bedford House, formerly the Bedford Institute Association, is a mission building dating from 1894, designed by Rutland Saunders for the Quaker Bedford Institute Association. It is constructed of red brick in English bond and glazed brick, with dressings of brick, Monks Park stone, and terracotta. The roof is slate, with a pair of ogee-capped ventilators and five pedimented dormers to the return. The building is two storeys and an attic.

The Quaker Street elevation has a three-window, gable-facing range, with a stair range exhibiting a Dutch gable to the right. A section returns at an oblique angle to Wheeler Street, featuring a five-window range, a shallow projecting bay of four windows, and a three-storey gable. A stair range runs along the rear party wall. All openings are segmental or round arched, with stone and brick voussoirs, and are articulated by sill, springing, and storey bands, with shallow brick piers.

The main entrance is centrally located on the facing gable to Quaker Street, within a two-storey aedicule of pilasters supporting a broken pediment, with an oriel above, all set in a two-storey arched recess. This element is constructed from stone or stucco and is painted. A metal sign bracket projects from the broken pediment. A second entrance is located in the stair range to the right. A service entrance is in the second range from the corner, with a flat arch set under the sill of the ground-floor window. There is also an entrance in the stair range to the rear.

Railings enclose a small area at the foot of the return wall. The gable-facing range has paired windows on each floor. The return elevation has a roof parapet with inset terracotta panels, and the dormers above have scrollwork to their shallow pediments.