The Old Power Station

The Old Power Station is a former electricity generating station, dating to 1902. It was designed by Robert Hammond, who was involved in the early Brighton electricity generating scheme. The building is an unusual example of Arts and Crafts architecture, influenced by the designs of Voysey.

Constructed of red brick in English bond with stone dressings, the building features a nipped slate roof, two-storey offices, and a single-storey engine room which has been extended by two bays in matching style. The roof has three pebble-dashed gabled dormers with circular wooden louvres. A wooden modillion eaves cornice runs around the building, and there are two crenellated drainpipes and two slightly projecting chimneystacks, one featuring a blank arch.

The front elevation has a first-floor hoist on the left and a three-light casement window on the right with fifteen panes, top-opening lights. The ground floor features three four-light casements separated by stone architraves, with stone bands connecting the tops and bottoms of the windows, all containing leaded lights. A narrow door, consisting of fifteen panels in the top half and a large fielded panel at the bottom, leads up six steps.

The left side elevation includes a first-floor casement window with later glass louvres. Behind this is the engine room extension, also built of red brick in English bond. A gable end features pilasters, stone coping, and a ball finial, with blank arcading. The first floor has two four-light casements with stone surrounds and linking bands, with a central two-light window later blocked.

The right side elevation is faced with orange brick and incorporates two blocked window openings on the first floor and three blocked window openings on the ground floor. The engine room on this side has been cement rendered and contains one four-light casement. The Manager’s office contains an iron fireplace with brackets and a green tiled surround, and another fireplace with plumed capitals, fluted columns, a curved central feature with paterae and swags, and a cornice with a band of swags. There are some five-panelled doors throughout the building.

Originally featuring five bays, the engine room was extended by two additional bays, exhibiting blank arcading and square pilasters on one side and Ionic pilasters on the sides of the former switchboard panel. The engine room roof is of a scientific king post form. The only surviving machinery is an overhead crane.

The building is notable as a relatively early and architecturally elaborate example of an electricity generating station.