Chimmels No 2 Boarding House

Boarding house at Dartington Hall, built in 1934 by W E Lescaze of Howe and Lescaze of America, assisted by R Hening. It is constructed of rendered brick with plain concrete coping to the parapet, concealing a flat roof, and features two small rendered stacks on the roof. The building has an overall rectangular plan, with a projection to the right of the east front. The entrance is towards the right (north) end, leading to a rear staircase and a longitudinal passage. Off this passage are two classrooms (one with a stage), a dining/playroom, a kitchen, a cloakroom, and, at the right-hand end, a house-father's flat and bicycle repair room. The first floor is carried over a covered playgroup at the left end. A longitudinal spine corridor gives access to children’s bedsitting rooms, bathrooms, lavatories and a trunk room, with the housemother's flat and access to a front balcony located at the right-hand end.

The building is in the International Modern Style. The east front features a projecting right-hand section with a recessed entrance porch. The remaining ground storey is advanced with a balustrade above, composed of steel tube and mesh. The first floor, therefore set back behind the ground storey, projects at the left end, supported by three slender steel posts. A band of ground storey windows continues around the left end, under the first floor projection. A continuous horizontal band of windows runs across the first floor, with each light separated by a concrete pier. The rear (west) elevation has asymmetrically disposed bands of windows and a rectangular stair window towards the left. A low, integral wall surrounds part of the covered area on the south end; its concrete coping is continued as the cill to the ground floor windows on the east elevation. Original steel window frames are present throughout. A later steel fire escape is located on the south end. The interior was not inspected. Chimmels was the second of three similar boarding houses built at Dartington School by Lescaze; comparable buildings are numbered 1 (Blacklers) and 3 (Orchards).