Office Building at St James' Depot

Office building, 1933, for the Northampton Corporation.

The former tram sheds, garages and ancillary accommodation to the rear are excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: constructed from brown brick with reconstituted stone dressings, with a slate roof.

PLAN: the office building stands within the large plot of the former tram and bus depot, on the south-west side of St James Road. It is located at the eastern corner of the site, set forward of the vehicle sheds. It has a rectangular footprint, running from north-east to south-west.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation faces north-east onto St James’ Road. It is rectangular on plan with a shallow hipped roof with deeply overhanging eaves, lined with corbels. The front of the building has a central entrance with half-glazed timber double doors with fielded panelling and marginal glazing bars. A reconstituted stone door case has geometric mouldings, and panels to either side. A panel above the doorway and a storey band is inscribed ‘NORTHAMPTON CORPORATION / TRANSPORT / OFFICES’. Windows occupy regular openings, and have marginal and diagonal glazing bars, with moulded stone architraves and aprons.

The pattern is continued on the return elevations, each of which is eight bays. On the north-east return elevation a doorway at either end appears to have been the public entrance and exit to a ticket office. The south-west end of the building steps back from the building line.

INTERIOR: the building is laid out with a lobby leading to a stair hall, with one large room with smaller side rooms on the ground floor. The lobby and stair hall have full-height tiling with pale green, marble effect tiles, with black borders. The remainder of the ground floor is also tiled to head height, and there are internal windows with coloured glass and marginal glazing bars. Doors throughout are solid timber with five horizontal panels. The stair is a cantilever open well, with reconstituted stone treads, string, and heavy square newel posts. The balustrade, which survives along the landing, is made up of steel posts and bars forming a geometric pattern. The surviving newel on the landing has the fixings for a lantern – a brass shaft with scroll work and a glass flame shade – since removed. On the first floor there is a large room with low relief plaster mouldings in the style of wall panelling. To the rear is a corridor with a full-height timber panelled screen, leading to a panelled office and closet. Toilets are fully tiled in metro-style cream and green tiles.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the former tram sheds, garages and ancillary accommodation to the rear are not of special architectural or historic interest.