Victoria Coach Station

Victoria Coach Station

Coach station and offices originally incorporating shops and a restaurant, built 1931-2 by Wallis, Gilbert & Partners for London Coastal Coaches Ltd. The building occupies the south-west junction of Buckingham Palace Road and Elizabeth Street.

The structure comprises a steel frame faced in concrete, now painted, with some contrasting brick facing to the rear elevations. Windows are mainly modern steel replacements. The building follows an L-shaped plan with a long northern range, a shorter eastern return, and a prominent corner entrance tower. The former booking hall is located at the intersection of the two blocks with a main corner entrance and secondary entrance in Buckingham Palace Road. Stairs are positioned to either side of the entrance and at each end of the two blocks. A full-length vehicle canopy runs parallel to the north elevation at the rear.

The exterior is five storeys high with a set-back attic storey, the ground floor being taller and incorporating a mezzanine. The design follows the Art Deco style with neo-Egyptian motifs, combining strong contrasting horizontal and vertical elements with curvilinear and geometric forms. The corner tower features bold stepped and fluted detail, angle glazing and a triple full-height central bay. The parapet and those of the curved returns display triglyph detail.

The entrance was substantially rebuilt in the 1950s in a much simplified manner. The long elevations emphasise horizontal elements accentuated by projecting fluted bands between storeys. The ground floor is divided into large window bays bisected by transoms with stylised fluted decoration marking the mezzanine floor. The north elevation differs markedly, with eight bays of the former lounge and restaurant separately expressed through vertical three-light windows with chevron-moulded mullions and reeded transoms, flanked by narrow vertical windows. The coach exit is flanked by stepped pilasters. Both elevations terminate in curves where they meet the tower; the east range also has a curved termination. Doors, shopfronts and windows have been replaced at all levels except for the transom lights at ground floor which retain pivoting metal casements with geometric pattern glazing. An entrance at the south end of the east block features curved shoulders and a raised chevron-pattern frieze above. The former booking hall is enclosed by wrought-iron area railings with inward-curving heads and contrasting diagonals. Open loading bays on the yard side have been infilled to create enclosed arrivals and departure areas with shops and cafes. The canopy has a louvred hipped glazed roof carried on open steel trusses.

Internally, the stairs have horizontal steel balustrades and hardwood handrails. The booking hall, retail areas and office interiors have been comprehensively modernised and retain few visible original features. The internal layout is generally much altered with largely open-plan offices.

Post-war internal and external fittings and finishes, including signage, joinery, suspended ceilings, cladding, partitions, plant and infill to the arrival and departure bays lack special architectural or historic interest.