Blackheath Art Club

Blackheath Art Club is a building of artists' studios, later converted into flats, constructed between 1885 and 1886, with an addition built in 1891. The architects were John C P Higgs and Frank Rudkin. The building is constructed of red brick with roughcast render and hung tiles to one gable, and is designed in the Arts and Crafts style. A separate, warehouse-style annexe stands to the right.

The main facade is two storeys plus an attic, divided into four parts. The left section features a hipped gable and symmetrically arranged segmental-arch windows, with an unusually large ground-floor opening designed to accommodate an exhibition room. A connecting section has a band of leaded lights at first floor, set within roughcast render. A gabled section also in roughcast has a large, Renaissance-style window extending down to the brick ground floor, while the right-hand section has ogee-headed windows at ground-floor level. A tile-hung gable is visible on the side elevation. The rear elevation, now facing a retaining wall, contains large windows providing light to the former studio spaces. The three-story annexe is plainer in design with large windows and buttresses.

The interior is divided into two sections, which no longer connect. The left section opens into a small, tiled hall. The ground floor was originally an exhibition hall (now a flat), with a staircase leading to an artist's flat above (also now a flat). The right section has a stepped entrance leading to a bottle-glass porch. The central, tiled hall features a fireplace, half-height panelling and a frieze. A wide staircase leads to the first-floor studios (now flats). Pointed-arch entries provide access to ground and first-floor studio spaces (now flats). Blind doors formerly gave access to male lavatories (now removed) and to the left range. The interiors of the flats have not been inspected.

The building was originally constructed as artists' studios and exhibition space for the Blackheath Art Society, founded in 1883. Between 1933 and 1943, it served as the headquarters and studio for the GPO film unit. In 2000, the building was awarded an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The building's history is further detailed in Rhind, Neil. Blackheath Village and Environs 1790-1990 Volume 1: The Village and Blackheath Vale.