Fullwell Cross Library

Fullwell Cross Library is a striking one-storey library building completed in 1968, designed by Frederick Gibberd in collaboration with borough engineer H.J. Mulder and borough architect H.C. Connell. It was refurbished in the early 1990s. The building stands on the High Street at Barkingside, part of a civic complex that also includes a swimming pool, sharing a triangular site adjacent to a busy roundabout.

The library is circular in plan, responding to its location at the apex of the triangular plot. It comprises two distinct components. The primary element is a squat, flat-roofed circular structure with steel framing and concrete panels, clad with narrow rectangular vertically-orientated panels of reconstructed stone and blue brick at the base. Narrow, rectangular, vertically-orientated wooden-framed windows, purpose-made, extend around the structure in a stepped rhythm. Large floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows light the building to the west, overlooking High Street Barkingside, and to the south facing the swimming pool. Some windows follow the circular plan and are flush with the wall; others follow a straight line and are recessed. Additional lighting comes from rooflights set into the flat roof arranged in a radial pattern.

The second component is a concrete shell lantern centrally placed on the flat roof. The lantern is sixteen-sided with a conical shell roof finished in copper. Each cone is horizontally ribbed and kicks up and out as it terminates. Each contains a clerestory window of four panes of narrow rectangular vertically-orientated glass, metal-framed and purpose-made, separated by concrete mullions.

Internally, three lecture rooms, a doctor's surgery, a reading room, staff rooms, and a children's library encircle the main library floor. The circular wall of the main lending library is shelved, with island bookcases arranged in a radial pattern radiating from the lantern footprint.

The early 1990s refurbishment replaced hardwood bookcases with metal ones, applied a membrane to the southern clerestory windows to prevent glare, repaired the flat roof, and positioned an enquiries desk in the centre of the lending library. The wall between the main lending library and the children's library was removed, and the door between the hall and children's library was locked, so the children's library is now accessed through the main library. The doctor's surgery, never used as such, became a storeroom.

The project began in 1958 when Ilford Council agreed to construct an Olympic-sized swimming pool on a greenfield site at Fullwell Cross. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government suggested appointing a consultant architect to design both a library and the swimming pool, following a recent refusal of planning permission for a library at Barkingside. Ilford Council negotiated with Frederick Gibberd, who insisted he would be responsible for architectural quality. W.V. Zinn undertook structural engineering and Wingfield, Boules and Partners handled mechanical services.

Gibberd presented plans and a model to Ilford Town Council in September 1959, and the design was featured in the Architectural Review's annual preview in 1960. The scheme faced lengthy delays as changes were discussed. In 1962, a restaurant overlooking the pool was incorporated. In 1963, the pool size was reduced due to the construction of an Olympic-sized pool at Crystal Palace and rising cost estimates. In 1964, Ilford Council amalgamated with Woodford and Wanstead Councils to form the London Borough of Redbridge, leading to suggestions of a more favourable alternative site, which were rejected. Construction began in July 1965, was completed in February 1968, and the complex was officially opened on 20 March 1968. The scheme was featured in the Architectural Journal that year.

Frederick Gibberd (knighted 1967, died 1984) was an architect and town planner who came to prominence with Pullman Court (1933-36), one of the first International Modern flats developments built in Britain. He was Master Planner of Harlow New Town, architect of Heathrow Airport and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, and responsible for numerous urban design projects, power stations, commercial buildings, the London mosque in Regent's Park, and landscape work on reservoirs.