University of Westminster (formerly Regent Street Polytechnic)

Former polytechnic, now part of the University of Westminster. The building comprises a frontage block to Regent Street constructed in 1910-12 by George A Mitchell in association with Frank Verity, who designed the street elevation. Additions were made in 1923-7 by FJ Wills, who also remodelled the theatre as a cinema.

Exterior

The frontage block is designed in the Beaux Arts manner with neo-Grec ornament. It comprises four main storeys over a double basement, an attic storey and steep mansard roof. The steel frame is faced in granite at ground floor level and Portland stone above, with a slate roof and metal-frame casement windows. The rear part is largely steel framed, faced in brown stock brick and glazed brick to the light wells.

The symmetrical five-bay façade is framed by rusticated pilasters surmounted by paired consoles, topped by a stone torchère. The ground floor has a recessed central entrance; the door surround and flanking windows have timber frames with paterae ornament to the intersections, though the shop entrance is a modern reproduction and the cinema entrance is modern. The first, second and third floors are articulated by a giant order of engaged Ionic columns. The first floor has tripartite windows divided by stone pilasters, with alternating segmental and triangular pediments. The second and third floors have vertically framed metal tripartite windows with ornate spandrel panels. Above is a dentil cornice. The attic storey has small tripartite windows, a mutule cornice and blocking course. The roof features a row of three pilastered triple-light windows over the three central bays; the end bays are accentuated by taller stone-faced dormers with fluted pilasters and an entablature. The roof has bronze ridge cresting. The rear part of the roof is of northlight form, lighting studios.

Interior

The entrance is reached through a glazed timber lobby with revolving doors to either side. The opulent entrance hall is clad in panels of contrasting coloured marble, with marble door architraves and an enriched plaster beamed ceiling supported on marble-clad piers. The floor is terrazzo with a central mosaic roundel depicting St George slaying the dragon inscribed with the motto "THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH". To the rear is a segmental roof lantern with stained glass. The stair is flanked by marble-clad Doric columns supporting a segmental pediment; within the tympanum is a stone tablet dedicating the rebuilt Polytechnic to the memory of King Edward VII. The stair has a short flight leading to a landing where it divides into two separate stairs, each with a lift shaft within the well, now enclosed. The lift entrances have ornate gilded wrought-iron aedicular surrounds with roundels of St George, rare survivals. Above the marble door architrave on the rear landing is a scrolled plaque commemorating the rebuilding of the Polytechnic; the wall of the left-hand stair flight has marble plaques engraved with the names of trophy winners. The stair has a wrought-iron balustrade, brass handrails and terrazzo treads.

The former shop, now a café, has no visible original features. Classrooms, laboratories and offices at basement and upper-floor levels of the 1910-12 frontage block have undergone repeated changes to their interiors and layout and are of lesser interest.

Fyvie Hall, added in 1910-12 to the north-west of the frontage block, has full-height oak panelling with Corinthian pilasters and an entablature, and an arched niche at the west end. The deep coved cornice is inset with curved stained-glass windows; the ceiling has strapwork decoration. On the south wall are large mullion-and-transom windows with Arts-and-Crafts stained glass, octagonal leaded lights and roundels depicting St George, Christian symbols and Biblical quotations. A Compton organ was installed at the east end in 1934. On the three other walls, the friezes of the panelling are inset with a series of eight rectangular panels painted by Delmar Harmood Banner (1896-1983), an artist and former Polytechnic student. Dating from 1923, these panels depict scenes of the artists and industries of London: the building of Westminster Abbey; the sculpture of Westminster Abbey; the painting of the Painted Chamber at Westminster Palace circa 1300; the painting of the Bishop's Bible in 1540; the goldsmiths; the tapestry weavers at Mortlake circa 1630; the potters circa 1690; and the shipbuilders circa 1700.

The former gymnasium, now a student meeting area, has a beamed and coffered ceiling from the 1910-12 rebuilding but has been otherwise much altered. The former Council Room, now the Alumni Room, at the rear of the gymnasium dates from 1910-12 and has three-quarter timber panelling inset with photographs of governors. The former swimming baths, now a refectory, has been considerably altered but retains original tiled pilasters, partly overclad, and an ornate cast-iron balustrade to the balcony.

The cinema foyer has been modernised and retains no visible original features. A rear stair leads to the auditorium, entered through a pair of double doors with diamond panes. The auditorium is decorated with neo-classical plasterwork and has a segmental barrel-vaulted ceiling above which the cast-iron arched roof structure from Thomson's 1848 theatre remains in situ. The proscenium arch is flanked by panelled pilasters. The curved balcony has a solid balustrade and brass rail. To the left of the stage is a Compton organ installed in 1936; behind the stage is the organ chamber complete with pipework and fittings. Behind the stage is a section of the theatre balcony dating from the 1890s remodelling, which has ornate cast-iron balustrading.

The 1927 library above Fyvie Hall, now the Board Room, has a glazed barrel vaulted roof with coffered plasterwork panels and decorative ceiling grilles. Shelving has been removed.

The interiors of the 1923-7 rear additions by FJ Wills above the levels of the cinema and former gymnasium are without special architectural or historic interest.