Former Engineering Block, Lord Wandsworth College

Former Engineering Block, now the Humanities Block, Lord Wandsworth College

Built in 1915 to designs by Guy Dawber, this former engineering workshop is a single-storey building constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone dressings and clay tile pitched roofs. It adopts a U-shaped plan with two projecting wings running north-south to the rear of the main south-facing range. Two small modern extensions are attached to the end of both wings. The interior is divided into classrooms arranged in enfilade throughout the building. The structure sits within a small lawned area to the south, with a central path leading to the main entrance.

The southern elevation forms the principal façade, comprising eleven bays of single-storey accommodation. Five twelve-light arched sash windows flank either side of the main entrance, each set beneath segmental brick arches with prominent keystones. The entrance itself projects slightly and features a moulded stone doorcase with recessed wood panelled door. Above this rises a projecting cornice with a classical head, flanked by rusticated brick pilasters with stone capitals and a plain stone entablature. A brick parapet crowns the main elevation, with an open pediment at parapet level above the entrance. The pediment is supported by two triglyphs with a central blank circle surmounted by a festoon. A centrally placed chimney stack of four chimneys, which also houses the school bell, rises through the hipped pitched roof.

The eastern elevation comprises the return of the main range and the eastern projecting wing. The main range return features a door accessing one classroom. The single-storey projecting wing consists of six bays, each with modern windows set under flat-gauged arches, except the final bay which has an ocular window. The wing carries a tiled pitched roof with gable end to the north. The north elevation of this wing has a further ocular window set high, with a small single-pitch lean-to brick extension beneath. The courtyard-facing western elevation of this wing has two doors at either end with three altered windows between them. The northernmost door is accessed by three steps.

The rear (northern elevation) of the main range has four arched windows set high in the wall with segmental brick arches above, and a central ocular window with a modern wood and glazed door below.

The western elevation comprises the return of the main range and the western projecting wing. The main range return has a modern wooden door accessed by five modern steps, with a keyed ocular window above and an arched twelve-light sash window to the left featuring a segmental brick arch and prominent keystone, with the parapet running above. The western projecting wing contains five bays with modern replacement windows under flat-gauged arches. The northern gable end has an ocular window set high, with a later single-storey brick extension for WCs attached lower down.

The interior has been comprehensively remodelled since 2010. All classrooms have new wall and floor finishes, ceiling stiles, and modern fixtures and fittings. No early internal fittings remain visible, though some may survive behind modern decoration.