Building 46 (Station Headquarters)

Station Headquarters, dated 1935, constructed by the Air Ministry’s Directorate of Works and Buildings under Drawing No 352/30. The building is of stretcher bond brickwork, with reinforced concrete floors and a slate roof. It features a symmetrical, two-storey, rectangular hipped range with a short, central T-arm to the rear, incorporating a flat roof extended into a single-story first floor with a double-hipped unit to a central valley. Original spaces included accommodation for the Commanding Officer, an engineer’s office and clerks, an accounts section, a waiting room, an orderly room, a lecture room, and a library. An operations room was located in the rear wing.

The front elevation has nine window bays. The windows are wooden sash windows set within reveals, framed by slightly cambered brick voussoir heads and concrete sub-sills. The principal windows have a six-pane upper sash and plate glass lower sash. Three central bays are slightly set forward, topped by a parapet or blocking course carried above the eaves by approximately one meter. This section is characterised by a pair of part-glazed doors within a stone pilaster surround and a flat entablature bearing the date 1935, supported by brackets; flanked by sash windows on either side. A further three bays extend to each side, featuring two close-set sashes on the short returns. A fascia and soffit eaves extends across the principal block and its raised blocking. A square, louvred turret sits centrally atop the ridge, incorporating a flared lead-clad apron and a square lead cupola with a pinnacle. The central blocking supports a flagstaff. The rear elevation displays three over one sashes on either side of the center section. A lower, rear wing exhibits a slightly lower outer section, with smaller sashes partially blocked to the south and west.

The interior retains original joinery and doors, including a dog-leg staircase.

This represents a typical, and relatively unaltered, example of Station Headquarters buildings commissioned during the first phase of the inter-war expansion of the RAF, which began in 1923 under the direction of Sir Hugh Trenchard. The symmetrical style reflects a direct influence from late 19th century barracks architecture.