The Centurion Public House

The Centurion Public House

A public house built in 1965-1966 to the designs of HR Robinson of West Country Breweries and JF Lachlan of Whitbread's, sited on a sloping site within a housing estate with extensive northward views across a valley towards Lansdowne.

The building has a steel frame with pre-stressed concrete floors and walls of reconstituted Bath and Portland stone. Flat roofs are covered with asphalt, edged with green slate fascias. Windows are double glazed with aluminium frames.

The pub takes advantage of its sloping site with three storeys and a semi-basement. The basement, exposed on the northern side, contains an entrance lobby, skittle alley and bar (originally two garages). The ground floor houses the public and lounge bars, the former buttery (now combined with the lounge bar), lavatories, office and a south-facing entrance hall accessed by a staircase from the basement entrance on the north side. The upper two floors form a rectangular block containing the publican's flat.

The ground floor bar rooms project at oblique angles to form a trapezoidal shape, contrasting with the rectangular core of the building at basement and first and second floor levels. Different textures of reconstituted stone are employed, with rusticated blocks at basement level and smooth ashlar blocks to the upper floors. Green slate fascias mark the tops of walls at ground floor and second floor levels on all sides.

The north face features a projecting ground floor bar supported on three evenly spaced square pillars. The basement level is recessed with double doors to the centre leading to a lobby and stairs; to the left, the converted garage has a window, above which sits a terrace with hardwood balustrade. At first floor level, four large plate glass windows extend across the full height and width of the bar space with aluminium surrounds and horizontal grilles beneath each. A projecting canopy with angled underside and slate fascia rises above. The first and second floors, recessed behind this, have square windows to the left. A bronze relief panel showing a Centurion in armour with plumed helmet and shield projects at right, rising across both floors.

The western face exposes the basement at the left as the land falls away. The ground floor projects in front of the main building with two large windows at left, similar to those on the north face, and an entrance doorway with glazed door approached by a dogleg staircase with hardwood balustrade rising from pavement level. Walling to the right is smooth and blind. The first and second floors recessed above have horizontal slit windows at right.

The south front has the rectangular block projecting slightly at near-centre with an entrance of glazed double doors beneath a canopy porch with metal pole supports. Above this rises a continuous staircase window at left with aluminium frame extending to the green slate fascia. At either side of this central tall block are single-storey blocks. That to the left has a triple window with aluminium surround and wooden-framed casement lights. At right and projecting is a rusticated screen wall to a service yard with blocks of various sizes; beyond this the single-storey block has windows to the upper wall.

The east side has horizontal slit windows at the top of the ground floor walling to the left and a four-light full-height window to the right, including a door to the terrace. The recessed first and second floors each have four evenly-spaced square windows.

Internally, the entrance lobbies at basement and ground floor levels have terrazzo-tiled floors, with terrazzo also covering the treads and risers of the basement stairs. The ground floor lobby contains a former telephone booth set into the wall with soundproof tiles and a portion of Roman mosaic in a hardwood frame fixed to the wall.

The public bar on the east side is entered at an upper darts platform; a couple of steps lead down to the main floor. This upper platform retains its original balustrade with iron supports and wooden handrail. The bar has its original shelved bar back, and the bar counter is original with a black slate front; the slate flooring around the bar is cut in patterns matching its angled corner.

The present saloon bar was originally two separate bars—the Lounge bar at the southern end and the Buttery at the north—divided by a lobby entrance with glass doors, now removed. The room has a raised platform at the southern end with its original balustrade. The bar in the original Lounge area has its original patterned Formica front, shelf and bar top, and the bar back is original with hardwood shelves and mirrored back extending across the wall to the right of the counter. The buttery area has its original ceiling with suspended metal troughs making a furrowed pattern with gaps for neon tubes; walls are panelled with vertical boards. The original L-shaped bar for serving food has been altered and the portion facing west replaced by a trophy cabinet. Close to the former lobby entrance is an alcove in the panelling containing a fixed bronze statue of Julius Caesar, which may have been moved from the southern lobby.

The publican's flat staircase retains its original slatted wooden screen above the solid balustrade. The living room at the north end of the first floor has a fireplace with a reconstituted stone wall to its rear and a vent where a gas or electric fire was formerly fitted. The pub kitchen was originally at first floor level with a service lift connecting to the buttery; this is now the kitchen for the flat.

The interior originally had an artificially pressurised atmosphere to eliminate drafts on this exposed northward-facing site. This mechanism no longer functions and seals around many doors, which were necessary features, have been lost. Original internal and external aluminium doors across the ground floor retain channels around their edges to accommodate the seals. Other internal wooden doors, principally in the lobbies, are flush with original signage and hardwood surrounds.