University of Bristol, Museum Lecture Theatre

The Museum Lecture Theatre at the University of Bristol is a lecture theatre built in 1874 by Stuart Colman. It is designed in the Italian Gothic Revival style and constructed from snecked limestone ashlar and red brick, with limestone dressings and a slate roof. The building has a single-depth plan and consists of two storeys with a six-bay range.

The entrance features a narrow, gabled block with a single-storey arcade that connects to the former museum on the right and the lecture theatre on the left. The entrance itself has a two-centre splayed arch leading to paired two-centre doorways, which are set beneath a blind arcade of arched panels. Above this, there is a five-lancet window adorned with colonnettes and quatrefoils, topped by a steep, coped gable with triple stepped lancets.

To the right, there is a three-window arcade with two-centre arches, fitted with 20th-century glazing and double doors, all beneath a parapet featuring pierced arches. On the left side, the lecture theatre is divided into five sections by first-floor pilaster strips and is set back from the second bay. The ground floor has a near-blind appearance with a single right-hand arched mullion window and a weathered band beneath very narrow blind lancets for each bay. The brickwork is decorated from the springing of the lancets to the parapet. The theatre is illuminated by a round lantern on the ridge, accompanied by two small louvred dormers. The extension to the former museum is built in a compatible, albeit quirky, style. Colman's skill in planning is noted as deserving of the commission on functional grounds alone.