Building Number 1/121 Former Commissioners Stables

The former Commissioner's stables, built in 1740, are located at HM Naval Base on Short Row. This building has been adapted for use as a photographic laboratory and garage, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The structure is constructed of painted brick and features a plain tile roof that is hipped at the left end, with a single brick chimney from the mid to late 20th century on the front slope.

The building stands two storeys tall and has a canted facade with four bays on the left and three on the right, separated by a straight joint. The right-hand section includes closely spaced windows on the first floor. The ground floor features two double board garage doors topped with small-paned overlights. The first floor has short, unequally-hung 12-pane sash windows with exposed boxes in the reveals, positioned below a moulded wooden eaves band. The left-hand section has two early 20th-century doorways with part-glazed pent porches, each accompanied by a segmental-arched 12-pane sash window to its right. In the center of this section, there is a former segmental-arched entrance that has been converted into a window. The first floor here has three 12-pane sashes and, to the right, a short unequally-hung 12-pane sash, also beneath a moulded wooden eaves band.

Inside, the central section retains some 18th-century panelling on both floors, including in the entrance hall. There is a door with six raised and fielded panels leading to a staircase that rises along the rear wall, and the rooms are lined with boards.

Historically, this building is closely associated with the 1787 Commissioner's House and is considered a notable early example, comparable to the officers' stables at Chatham.