Allen House Mullers Homes City of Bristol College

Allen House, part of Muller's Homes and formerly associated with City of Bristol College, is a large orphanage dating from 1847-9, built in Bristol by John Foster and Son for George Muller. The building is constructed from pennant stone rubble with Bath stone window frames. It has gable-ended roofs, which have been re-clad. The plan is radial, centred on a square tower with canted corners, and incorporates four wings. At the ends of these wings are lower workshop ranges, creating three courtyards, with the southwest courtyard open on two sides. The building is four storeys to the central tower and three storeys to the nine-bay north and south wings. The east and west wings are two to three storeys high, with single-storey workshop ranges. The windows are 12-pane sashes, some of which have been altered, set within plain stone architraves. The main entrance is located in the first bay of the south side of the west wing, and is accessed via a stone portico supported by pairs of square piers. 20th-century extensions have been added within the courtyards. The ground floor hall of the central tower features a cast-iron ventilation shaft and a coved ceiling with moulded plaster neo-Classical decoration. Allen House was the first of five large, barrack-like orphanage buildings constructed by George Muller between 1847 and 1870, and was built entirely from voluntary contributions. The orphanage was illustrated in the London Illustrated News in 1850.