Paignton Community College

Paignton Community College, originally the School of Art and Science, was built in 1908, designed in a 17th-century style. It occupies a corner site between Bishops Place and Gerston Place. The building is constructed of rusticated red breccia with red brick and freestone dressings, along with terracotta details and a slate roof. The design is asymmetrical, featuring a five-window front.

The ground floor has a deep plinth, a moulded terracotta string course, and a deep freestone band inscribed with "School of Art and Science" in Roman lettering. Above this is a deep eaves cornice with a modillion frieze, topped by a plain parapet with moulded coping. The left end has a rusticated doorway with a stone porch hood and a datestone flanked by symbols of Art and Science. Four round-headed ground-floor windows feature spoke glazing bars above the transom. First-floor windows have heavy rustication, keystones, rusticated voussoirs, and 9 over 2-pane sash windows. The right return, facing Gerston Place, includes six ground-floor windows matching the front and a series of sgraffito panels between moulded glazed tiles on the first floor, illustrating Applied Design, Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture. The rear north elevation is notable for two large, backward-canting first-floor windows designed to maximize north light.

Inside, an open-well stair features cast-iron balustrades, a rounded timber handrail with projecting beads, a wood-block floor, vents for a former coal-fired boiler, sliding doors between first-floor studios, and original storage cupboards for paintings. The sgraffito panels, executed by the first headmaster, Wallis, are thought to have been influenced by the Royal College of Organists in Kensington, representing a rare example of external sgraffito work. It was originally located in New Street and supported by the local council from 1895. Approved in June 1907, the school cost approximately £11,650, and was completed in October 1908.