W I Palmer Memorial Hall

W I Palmer Memorial Hall

This is a former temperance hall, originally built in 1862 by William Henry Woodman as part of a terrace. It was substantially embellished and rebuilt between 1887 and 1899 by F W Albury.

The building is constructed of brown brick in English bond with decorative terracotta detailing throughout. The ground floor contains a shop with the main entrance positioned to the left, and a subsidiary entrance to the right.

The asymmetric principal elevation is three storeys and three bays, richly decorated with buff and red terracotta. The central bay is recessed above the ground floor. The left-hand bay features a portico with a Romanesque-type doorway of two orders, dressed with alternating buff and red terracotta tiles. The doorway is supported by pairs of engaged columns with composite capitals decorated with faces. Above this is an entablature comprising a frieze and moulded cornice topped by a pediment. The tympanum is richly decorated with an arcade of small arches in relief above a triangle of foliage. The frieze is inscribed "AD WEST STREET HALL 1887". The entablature is supported by two composite columns on pedestals of engineering bricks, with shafts featuring faces in relief to the lower part, fluting to the middle, and a hexagonal pattern to the upper part, beneath composite capitals. The doorway has a pair of decorative wrought-iron gates, behind which stands a modern metal and glass entrance door and vestibule.

The central bay is fronted by a plate glass shop front with a fluted stall riser and plain fascia. The right-hand bay has a 20th-century entrance with a grey marble architrave carrying a coat of arms surmounted by a later sign reading "LONDON COLLEGE OF RESEARCH". The recessed entrance door is uPVC.

From the left, the two upper floors have canted bay windows with multiple single-light windows set into fluted mullions and moulded transoms. The frieze above the first-floor windows and the parapet above the second floor have three decorative panels featuring a cartouche and scrolls under round-headed arches of alternating buff and red terracotta tile dressings. Above rises a short spire topped with a metal weathervane. The central bay has eight-light transom windows with fluted mullions and moulded transoms to both floors. The frieze above the first-floor window contains stylised letters on slanting scrolls spelling "W I Palmer Memorial Building". The parapet above the second floor has a pair of bracket-shaped mouldings set between fluted pilasters. The right-hand bay projects at the first and second floors, where there are four-light transom windows with fluted mullions and moulded transoms. The frieze and parapet have a decorative panel with a cartouche and scrolls under a round-headed arch of alternating buff and red terracotta tile dressings. The clay-tiled roof is partially hidden behind the parapet. The north side elevation steps up to a large brick chimney stack with a buff terracotta frieze.

The ground floor shop spaces and hallway beyond the main entrance vestibule have modern fixtures and fittings. The upper floors have been converted to apartments.