Number 5 Store, Colour Loft (Mo 56)

No. 5 Store, Colour Loft, built between 1840 and 1850, is a store located in Morice Yard, Devonport Dockyard. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with granite dressings and features a hipped slate roof. The building has a rectangular two-cell plan with a central passage and stair.

The exterior stands three storeys tall and has a seven-window range with three-window ends. It includes a cill band, a coped east gable with a clock in a stone surround, and a small bell tower positioned behind the gable on the ridge. The central south doorway features a four-pane overlight and 20th-century double doors. The entrance on the east side has steps leading up to 20th-century doors with a plate glass overlight. There is also a central hoist door on the north side under a bracketed canopy. The windows are fitted with 6/6-pane horned sashes, while the second floor has 3/6-pane windows. There are 20th-century fire escapes added to altered doorways at both ends of the building.

Inside, the store is lined with vertical timber boarding and has central chamfered posts on the ground floor. A notable feature is the central Imperial stair, which consists of two back-to-back dogleg stairs, although one flight from the ground floor has been removed. The stair has an uncut string and heavy stick balusters, and the attic houses the mechanism of the clock.

Historically, this building is significant as one of the last constructed by the Board of Ordnance, situated on the site of the original powder store. It is a well-preserved example of a small mid-19th century naval store, located within the best surviving naval ordnance yard in the country.