Carnegie Library

Carnegie Library

This is a listed two-storey library building with a single-storey rear block, completed in 1905 and built of red brick and buff terracotta with a clay tile roof.

The front elevation, designed in the Wrenaissance style with art nouveau details, is arranged in three bays. The central projecting frontispiece is topped by a tall segmental pediment bearing a panel inscribed 'CARNEGIE LIBRARY' flanked by draped urns. At ground floor, the entrance bay projects further forward beneath a curved hood carried on consoles, and the panelled door features art nouveau stained-glass lights. Above the entrance are the badge of Portsmouth (a crescent moon and star) and keyed roundels to either side bearing the date '19' and '05'. An egg-and-dart cornice and balustraded parapet with a central decorative panel rise above. The outer bays contain canted bay windows with egg-and-dart cornices and curved parapets. At first-floor level, a central Palladian window lights the stair, with terracotta enrichment to the spandrels and flanking pilasters. Flanking this are Serlian windows whose heads rise above the eaves. The roof is hipped with sprocketed eaves, a deep timber bracketed cornice and a small timber cupola. Cast-iron rainwater pipes with art nouveau hoppers serve the building. The side elevations have two windows per floor, all generally timber sashes. Low front walls with gatepiers enclose the front area, though the original railings and gates have been removed.

The interior comprises a vestibule leading to an entrance hall with a stair, with the former newspaper room to the right and magazine room to the left. To the rear is an enclosed lobby providing access to the lending library, beyond which lie a former librarian's room and book store. The upper floor contains two large rooms flanking the stair (originally the main book store to the right and ladies' reading room to the left), with a lavatory to the rear.

The rooms are divided by elaborate full-height timber partitions with art nouveau stained glass. Doors throughout are similarly glazed with curved hoods and gold lettering indicating the rooms' functions, retaining most of their curved brass handles. Interiors feature beamed ceilings with scrolled consoles. The lending library was originally fitted with an enclosed counter with indicator boards, later replaced around 1920 when the open-access system was introduced with a curved timber panelled issue counter with Tuscan columns and mahogany top, though the glazed screen at the front appears to be reused from the original fittings. The space is lit by a central octagonal timber lantern and pitched lanterns to either side. The stair has terrazzo treads, an ornate cast-iron balustrade, a mahogany handrail and a turned newel with gadroon design. The stair window contains art nouveau stained glass depicting climbing roses. The upper-floor rooms are simply finished with moulded plaster cornices. The former librarian's room and book store have no features of special interest.

To the south of the building is a sensory garden occupying the external area.