Westminster College (1950S Building)

Westminster College is a building dating from the 1950s, representing an extension to the former Westminster Technical College. Construction of the steel frame began in 1937 and was incorporated into the building completed between 1950 and 1955, according to revised and enlarged designs by H S Goodhart-Rendel. The building is constructed of yellow brick with some red brick, featuring a tiled mansard roof to the five southern bays and a copper roof over a projecting stair tower. The southern bays present a three-storey facade with a dormered mansard.

To the left of the southern block is a five-storey, four-bay range, with a two-bay Soanesque entrance projecting at ground floor level. A semi-circular staircase tower projects further to the left, followed by a four-bay block of four main storeys incorporating a library at ground level with a mezzanine. The building returns four bays to Rochester Row.

The southern block’s windows are square-headed; those at ground floor level illuminate a dining room, featuring varnished timber glazing bars with "neo-Gothic" details, with a shallow bow to the centre window. White-painted casements are above. The centre and northern blocks feature square-headed windows, predominantly horizontal above the ground floor and separated by flat brick pilasters. Brick and polychrome brick patterning is used to decorate the spandrels under the ground-floor windows. Ground-floor windows have a vertical emphasis, with large, delicate metal-framed diamond-pane single glazing; above these are metal-framed windows with narrow vertical lights. The stair tower exhibits delicate vertical metal-framed windows with large diamond panes. The Rochester Row elevation matches the northern block’s Vincent Square elevation, but is blind to ground floor level. A projecting two-bay entrance to the centre block is constructed of green stone with moulded pilasters and two pairs of doors featuring delicate glazing bars and large diamond glazing. A sundial, crafted in Portland stone by J Ledger, is mounted on the wall above the entrance.

The interior entrance hall is designed in a simplified classical style, featuring a floor of black mosaic with red and white geometric patterns. The Escoffier room contains a coffered ceiling, panelling, columns, and original light fittings, as does the main restaurant. It is considered a fine example of Goodhart-Rendel’s secular work, demonstrating his adoption of a style-less but decorative manner known for fine decorative details.