University Of Greenwich, Woolwich Campus: Original Building, Gymnasium To Rear And Corner Entrance Range With Attached Railings

University of Greenwich, Woolwich Campus: Original Building, Gymnasium to Rear and Corner Entrance Range with Attached Railings

This polytechnic building occupies a prominent corner site and consists of three phases of construction spanning from 1890 to 1917. The original building of 1890–1 was designed by H H Church and incorporated an existing mid-19th-century house. Church extended the scheme in 1892, adding a two-bay extension to the right. A major corner addition, designed by T P Figgis and A E Mumby, was built in 1916–17.

The Calderwood Street facade is constructed in brick with terracotta piers and quoins, stone details, and slate roofs. The rendered rear facade of the earlier house remains visible in the courtyard behind. The gymnasium, built of brick with a timber roof, is largely concealed by later additions. The 1916–17 corner block is faced in Portland stone.

The main facade to Calderwood Street comprises seven bays with a two-bay addition to the right. Both are executed in Tudor Gothic style, though the 1892 extension has a small tower at the extreme right, originally topped with a cupola. Shaped gables rise to the attic storey, and a small projecting oriel is evident. Round-headed Gothic windows to the ground floor sit within flat stone surrounds; first-floor windows are divided into two by a sill band. The entrance in the addition features double doors under a tripartite toplight, surmounted by a stone plaque inscribed "WOOLWICH POLYTECHNIC YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE".

The 1916–17 corner addition extends 2–1–3 bays along Thomas Street. A high parapet forms a tripartite composition with higher centrepieces to both Calderwood and Thomas Streets and a segmental pediment at the corner. A giant Ionic order enframes the first and second floors, with tripartite casement windows in stone surrounds between them on both levels. Swags ornament the aprons to the central second-floor windows. Channelled rustication marks the corner, and an elaborate first-floor window features carving over its keystone. Round-arched windows with keystones light the ground floor. Grecian-style railings enclose the basement areas. The corner entrance, set within a rusticated surround, has double doors with glazed surrounds and toplights in leaded glazing, arranged under a round arch with voussoirs and keystone, topped by a carved lion.

The original building interior is simple and robust, with tiling to central corridors and a timber balustrade to the staircase. The gymnasium is more elaborate, featuring pilasters to the walls and an open timber-truss roof with lines of posts; it was originally lit from above. More ornamental detailing survives beneath later inserted movable seating. The corner addition contains an elaborate circular hallway with a mosaic floor featuring the intertwined initials WP at its centre, engaged columns, and a dentiled cornice. Iron balustrading and timber handrails rise to the first-floor opening and adjoining stairs. Above the hall is a dome with a toplight and oeil-de-boeuf windows between pilasters. Thick timber doors open to adjoining rooms. Classroom interiors are of no special architectural interest.

Woolwich Polytechnic was founded by Frank Didden following principles established by his mentor Quentin Hogg, and opened in October 1891. It was the second polytechnic—meaning "of many arts and techniques"—in the country. Like Hogg's pioneering venture, it combined educational provision with social and religious functions, a synthesis uniquely expressed in the architecture of Woolwich Polytechnic. Hogg considered a gymnasium essential to any polytechnic, and the inscription above the Calderwood Street entrance demonstrates the Christian purpose of its founders. Following the Polytechnic's refoundation in 1894, it assumed a more purely educational focus, concentrating on higher technical education suited to its location. Funding from the London County Council enabled the ambitious corner addition, which is included in this listing for its architectural splendour. The three elements form a contiguous whole at the corner of the Polytechnic's historic town-centre site.