THE QUADRANGLE (N 173-177, 186-191, 203)

THE QUADRANGLE

Foundry, smithery, boiler and machine shop, offices and store built between 1852 and 1861 at the North Yard, Devonport Dockyard. Designed by William Scamp and Colonel G T Greene of the Admiralty Works Department, with external elevations by Sir Charles Barry. The building is constructed in limestone ashlar with yellow brick and granite dressings, and features a corrugated sheet roof on cast-iron stanchions in the Italianate style.

The plan is a symmetrical square containing two courtyards originally, with central offices along the west front flanked by stores. The side ranges are set back with re-entrant corners, containing metal-working shops in the south range and boiler and plater's shops in the north. A central rear eastern section housed the former foundry, millwright's and pattern shops with two large chimneys at the east corners, beam engine houses at the north-east and south-east corners, and coal stores along the rear, later converted to offices in the late 19th century.

The exterior presents a strongly articulated two-storey elevation with 29 bays to the front and 18 bays to the sides. A plinth, cornice and blocking course provide the main horizontal divisions. The west front features a 3:3:3-bay central entrance section with the middle portion set forward, containing a large round-arched entrance beneath a Diocletian window. Above rises a tall pedimented attic with a panel of recessed roundels. Flanking this are three-storey bays with attics containing two-roundel panels and square turrets with flat-topped belfries with round-arched openings connected by balustrade to the pediment. The flanking three-bay sections have narrow recessed central bays for hoisting rising into segmental pediments, with outer recessed bays featuring ovolo-moulded tops and round-arched ground-floor and segmental-arched first-floor openings. The outermost sections are 5:1:5-bay formations, each with a pedimented central entrance bay containing segmental-arched cross windows set in ovolo-headed recesses. End gables provide simpler versions of the entrance treatment, two storeys without sunken panels or balustrade, with corner turrets with loops and belfries featuring pedimented sides and small domes.

The north and south ranges have matching end gables with square-topped turrets, the south displaying "VR 1853" and the north "VR 1856" in the spandrels of the main entrance arch. These ranges connect to the main block via a wide round archway. Side elevations are similarly articulated. The original windows were ovolo-moulded with small-paned metal frames, though some have been altered or blocked in.

The former engine and boiler house in the north-east corner is a five-bay range with small ground-floor windows and first-floor windows set in recesses with bracketed heads. A bracketed cornice rises to an attic storey with sunken panels containing paired oculi; the east end has a panel with four oculi. A truncated octagonal brick chimney rises from the inner side. A matching engine house stands at the south-east corner.

The rear east elevation comprises seven-window outer ranges with pedimented end gables, plinth, plat band and eaves cornice. These connect via a single-storey central range to the back of the foundry through round archways leading to the foundry yard at each end. Behind this stands the tall yellow brick foundry with a central pedimented wing containing two round-arched openings with double doors, paired end gables and five large lunettes along the sides. Two large square chimney towers occupy the east corners, each of four stages with panelled sides and tall false machicolations containing truncated round chimneys. Iron hoppers are inscribed "VR" with fouled anchors.

The interior features a main entrance archway with three vaulted bays and cantilevered granite open-well stairs on each side with iron balusters, leading to offices. The main former workshop areas are arranged around a grid of cast-iron I-section stanchions supporting pierced segmental arches with metal-trussed roofs. The east and west aisles contain trussed timber beams with two traveller roads. The foundry has H-section iron stanchions supporting pierced segmental arches beneath the valley roof, five east bays with heavy fire-proof mezzanines, and corner winder stairs. Roof trusses feature cruciform struts, flat-iron ties in pairs or threes at the ends, and wrought-iron tie rods.

The Steam Yard, renamed North Yard, opened in 1853. The Quadrangle's design evolved from separate workshops around an open court into a roofed building with a grid of early rolled stanchions allowing flexible internal arrangements. It was fitted with two beam engines at either end of the foundry with line shafting throughout the building and an internal railway. The forges were drawn by five large flues to the two chimney towers. The building represents the culmination of a generation of metal workshops built in the Dockyards for the new steam navy, being the largest of its type constructed by the Navy. It remains a rare instance of national architect involvement in a naval workshop. The Quadrangle was a notably successful design, outstanding in a national context for its remarkably advanced use of flexible planning, which has ensured its continued adaptability to the Navy's changing engineering needs.