Hydraulics Research Limited

Hydraulics Research Limited is a house that has been converted into offices, built around 1850. It features a stone base with red brick and Bath stone dressings, topped by a complex slate roof and various brick stacks. The building is designed in an Elizabethan style and has two storeys plus an attic, with a five-window range arranged in a 1:3:1 pattern, including a three-bay centre flanked by one-bay cross-wings.

The front includes a stone arcaded glazed loggia supported by Doric pilasters, with a central half-glazed double door and a round overlight. To the right cross-wing, there is a cross window, and the centre of the first floor has three cross windows. The right cross-wing features a five-light stone mullion and transom window on both sides. A pierced stone balustrade adorns the centre roof, which has shaped gables on the cross-wings. An octagonal tower with an ogee lead roof is located to the right.

At the rear, the building also has two storeys and an attic with a five-window range. The centre has three French doors, and there are two-storey bay windows on the left and right, featuring stone mullion and transom windows. The first floor centre has three cross-windows, and the central roof and flat tops of the bay windows are accented with a pierced stone balustrade. The design includes shaped gables on both ends, and there are two dormers in the centre. A two-storey, three-window wing on the left has a five-window arcade on the ground floor.

Inside, there is a double-height hall with a glazed leaded screen leading to the lobby and a decorative encaustic tile floor. A balcony on the first floor has a panelled front in Jacobean style, with cupid herms on the uprights of the panels. The ornate plaster panelled ceiling features brackets to the cove. The Enquiry Room and Library, likely former drawing rooms, are both panelled in French Rococo style. The lecture room on the left, probably a former dining room, is panelled in oak in Jacobean style. The staircase to the right is an open well cantilever staircase with a wrought and cast iron balustrade and a wooden handrail, featuring a coffered ceiling with a central hinged figure in an oval panel.