The Daubeny Laboratory the Manley Laboratory the Vines Wing the West Block

The West Block forms part of a group of buildings associated with the Botanic Gardens. The core of the West Block is a late 17th/early 18th-century orangery, originally built in two storeys by Townesend between 1733 and 1735, and later raised by one further storey, possibly around 1861. To the east and west of this original orangery are the Vines Wing, the Daubeny Laboratory, and the Manley Laboratory, which together form a largely cohesive south elevation, though the additions disrupt the uniformity of the front.

The Vines Wing, constructed in 1910, is two storeys high and built of ashlar, designed to match the earlier Townesend building. The north elevation features a moulded band at the first floor level, a moulded cornice, and a small parapet. The south elevation has three sash windows on the first floor, each with a rusticated keystone and plain recessed reveals. Below each first-floor window is a rusticated rectangular raised panel. A projecting western section of the Vines Wing has a simple doorway flanked by two sash windows on either side. A three-light sash window is located above the doorway, recessed within a frame with a rusticated keystone.

The Daubeny Laboratory, built in 1848, incorporates the original Townesend orangery at its centre. The south elevation mirrors Townesend’s design with two storeys of ashlar, a moulded cornice at the first floor level, and a parapet with a moulded cornice below. The first floor has rectangular rusticated panels. The north elevation is of two storeys of ashlar with a parapet. Five sash windows are arranged along the north elevation; the central three project forward. The first-floor windows have plain recessed reveals and rusticated keystones, with a rusticated rectangular panel below each.

The Manley Laboratory, dating to 1902, shares a similar aesthetic with the other ranges to the east, with a first floor added in 1932. The north elevation is constructed of two storeys of plain ashlar with a moulded band at the first floor level, moulded eaves cornice, a small parapet, and two-light casement windows.