Former Tooting Police Station

Former Tooting Police Station

A police station with divisional offices and section house, built in 1939 to designs by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, with Walter Lawrence Ltd as contractors.

The building has a steel frame with concrete casings and solid slab floors. External walls are of buff brick laid in English bond and header bond, with Portland stone dressings and metal-framed casements set in wood frames. The six-storey structure has a butterfly or X-shaped plan, with diagonal wings projecting towards the principal compass points and a central hub containing the entrance and staircase tower. The public entrance front faces north-west towards Mitcham Road, while the section house faces south-east and runs parallel to Ascot Road.

The section house provided accommodation for eighty men with twelve sets of married quarters, each with independent access. The basement contained stabling, a garage, gymnasium and parade room. At ground floor level were canteens for different ranks, cells, offices, charge room and desk, and a central office with a domed ceiling. Upper floors held offices and bedrooms, with external balconies placed in front of the living rooms of married quarters. The eastern section house included a billiards room and library, as well as a common room and dining room at ground floor level with bedrooms above.

The symmetrical front to Mitcham Road displays flush bands of Portland stone across the basement and ground floors and above the first floor. At the centre stands a projecting staircase tower. In front of the central doorway is a segmental apron or platform above the basement, approached by short flights of steps to the centre and sides. The door surround is of stone with moulded edges and incorporates a royal coat of arms carved by E.R. Broadbent over the door. Above this extends a tall staircase window with etched panels rising for two floors, crowned by a balcony with stone balustrade which connects with broader balconies at the centre of the front on the upper three floors. Above the central window, the stone is inscribed with "TOOTING / POLICE STATION". Joining the staircase tower to the angled wings at basement and ground-floor level are convex projections with brick walling laid in header bond and square windows with projecting stone frames. The balconies have inset, flush bands of tiles, and the tops of the walls have soldier courses matching the window lintels across the front. Roof tiles laid horizontally in alternate courses also form ventilation grille covers across the front. The angled wings at either side have three bays to each floor, either with three-light casements or, at the centre, two lights.

The rear of the block also has angled wings to either side. The basement is exposed, with external walling at basement and ground floor of ashlar. The centre is recessed with a projecting curved bay at ground floor topped by a domed roof set with small circular skylights. Windows across the rear are two or three-light casements with metal frames.

The section house facing east onto Ascot Road has blank walling at basement level, topped by a band of Portland stone. The ground floor above has full-height windows and is divided from the upper floors by flush bands of Portland stone with inset soldier course of bricks. The four upper floors have seven bays of metal-framed windows, each of three lights. The top storey has inset stone bands at the level of window sills and lintels. Projecting to the right are three bays with a central ground-floor doorway approached by a double flight of steps. This has a Portland stone surround with channelled rustication and a semi-circular canopy above. Above this the upper floors have a central recessed panel with three-light casements and single-light windows to either side. The left-hand end has a broad semi-circular bow with five bays of windows and balconies across the central three windows of the upper four storeys.

Internally, the entrance lobby leads to an imperial staircase rising in one flight and returning in two. Treads and guard walls are covered with terrazzo, as are the passage floors and dado panels lining the lower walls at ground and first-floor levels. The outline of the original plan survives, although some spaces have been subdivided. Original fittings include joinery, doors, door furniture and some fireplaces in the section house.