Adult Education Centre, formerly Thanet School of Art

Adult Education Centre, formerly Thanet School of Art

This art school was designed by W H Robinson and erected in 1931. It is built of brick.

The building is arranged on a central plan. The ground and first floors comprise a central exhibition space with classrooms and studios arranged around it—two on the east side and three on the west side. The north side of the exhibition space contains a wide stairwell, while the south side contains the front door and toilet facilities. The basement follows the same arrangement, but with a back door to the north and a boiler room and store to the south.

The facades are of red brick with stone dressings and rusticated brick quoins, completed in Art Deco style. The south (principal) facade comprises two full-height windows either side of a projecting central bay. The central bay has two arch-headed full-height windows either side of the door, with a third arch-headed window above. Above the door is a stone and metal sign inscribed "KENT EDUCATION COMMITTEE". The central bay is topped with a low stone pediment. The door is approached by a set of stairs rising from the right, with disabled access on the other side. Front railings enclose a light well for basement windows just below pavement level.

The west facade comprises three full-height windows in a projecting bay. Railings, continued from the south facade, enclose a light well for basement windows at pavement level. The north (rear) facade comprises two full-height windows either side of a projecting central bay, itself containing three full-height windows. The windows sit above a basement at ground level, which holds a central stone doorway flanked by four windows on each side. The east elevation is a blind brick wall with a chimney.

The windows comprise a series of tall, thin lights with opening lights above and below. The ground floor ceiling and first floor level joint is concealed by embossed metal panels. The pattern of fenestration differs on each facade.

Internally, the building is largely as built. The front door opens into the central exhibition space, now used as reception. Originally a two-storey open space, a ceiling has been inserted to separate ground and first floors, with a lift shaft running through. The original light well is marked by the inserted floor and by a wooden column at each corner, repeated at first-floor level. The columns are square with Art Deco motifs and are repeated as pilasters on the exhibition space walls. The roof comprises a large square skylight divided into 25 lights, each with nine panes separated by timber glazing bars.

The interiors feature plastered walls with dark wood joinery throughout. Doors comprise a combination of six-panel (three over three) solid wood doors and half-glazed (six light) over three-panelled wooden doors. Ground-floor door cases have low pediments. Art Deco radiators survive in most rooms. The main office and Studio F2 have been subdivided with stud partition walls, and a small office has been created in room G3, also using stud partition walls.

The staircase opposite the front door is an open-string imperial staircase with iron balusters matching the external railings—a series of parallelograms, each over four risers, with a pair of diagonal pieces forming a St Andrew's cross. The newels are formed by a wrought iron frame topped with an iron lamp stand, although the lamps are now missing. The stairwell is lit by full-length windows.

The basement has painted brick walls with a rendered dado. Bricks are laid in Flemish bond with rounded chamfers on the corners. The boiler room contains a large kiln.

The building is surrounded on the south and west sides by iron railings in panels, each comprising a square St Andrew's cross flanked by four pairs of vertical bars. Panels are joined by a continuous top rail. Rainwater goods comprise iron downpipes topped by iron hoppers decorated with small raised squares.