Technical College, Strand Road, Londonderry, Co. Londonderry, BT48 7AL

Technical College, Strand Road, Londonderry

This is an Edwardian four-storey nine-bay Municipal Technical College built in 1908 to designs by E.J. Toye. The building is constructed in red brick with rendered dressings, set on a rock-faced plinth with a painted channel-rusticated ground floor level. It has a rectangular plan form with a modern red-brick extension to the west side. The roof is steeply pitched slate with terracotta clay ridge tiles and a large ventilation cowl centred at the mid-point of the ridge.

The building occupies a corner site at the junction of Strand Road and Cranagh Terrace on Lawrence Hill, with views towards the River Foyle to the north-east. It continues to serve as an educational building and forms part of the North West Regional College campus.

The symmetrical principal east elevation faces onto Strand Road. The walling to the upper floors is laid in English bond and divided horizontally by wide rendered band-courses. Two large outer gables and a smaller central gable project prominently. Each gable apex is marked with a painted rendered motif: "ART" to the left, a decorative moulded date stone inscribed "1908 AD" to the centre, and "SCIENCE" to the right. The gables have copper dressings to their copings. Clasping buttressing piers are evident on the gables at second and third floor levels. A large decorative ventilation tower is located on the ridge above the central apex, with lead to the side elevations and painted timber cornicing above and below timber louvres.

Large projecting cornices are set between ground and first floors, and between first and second floor levels.

The ground floor level features painted rendered channelled rustication set on the rock-faced plinth. The deeply recessed central doorway is set within a semicircular arch opening with a lugged moulded painted rendered surround surmounted by a diamond-faced keystone. The timber double entrance doors have six panes to the top half and solid timber panels to the bottom half, set within a decorative moulded timber architrave with a shallow arched head and moulded timber entablature below a semi-circular multi-pane fanlight with margin panes. The entrance is approached via a short flight of stone steps with metal railings to the left side and a ramp to the right side. Small square-headed windows flank the doorway. The projecting gables contain tripartite casement windows on the ground floor level, divided by wide rendered pilaster mullions and set within a moulded surround with a semicircular central window and hood mould over.

Upper floor windows are square-headed casements. First floor windows are set within semicircular arch bays to a deep rendered band, with third floor bays diminishing in scale.

The south gable-end side elevation faces onto a new campus building. This gable-end has a series of small square-headed windows on each floor level, divided horizontally by rendered band-courses.

Projecting cornices from the north elevation return the corner, spanning the full width of the side elevation between ground, first and second floor levels. The ground floor features painted rendered channelled rustication, while the walling to upper floors is red brick laid in English bond. The south side to the rear return follows a similar fenestration pattern with a plain rendered ground floor level and red brick on the upper floor levels, divided horizontally by rendered band-courses between floor levels. An enclosed modern corridor link bridge spans between the rear extension and the neighbouring building at first floor level on the extreme left side.

The rear west elevation of the main building is painted render. A door opening on the ground floor is approached via a curved metal external staircase leading to a four-panel timber door with glazed top panes. Above this is a series of small square-headed casement windows on painted masonry sills. The west side of the rendered rear return has a pair of timber doors with integrated side lights and a multi-pane transom light over. The fenestration pattern to the remaining elevation is irregular, comprising a mixture of small, large and narrow casement windows carried through to third floor level. The rear yard is enclosed by a high stone wall.

The north elevation faces onto Lawrence Hill with three gabled bays having steeply pitched roofs. The ground floor to the main building and rear extension features painted rendered channelled-rustication, with red-brick finish to upper floors divided horizontally by deep rendered band-courses. Ground, first and second floors are divided by deep projecting cornices. The main building gable-end elevation contains a narrow long segmental arch-headed window to the right side on the ground floor level and a large semicircular arch-headed opening with rendered hood mould and flying keystone at the centre of the arch on the third floor level. Upper floor windows are square-headed casements set within semicircular arch-headed bays on the first floor. The ground floor of the rear extension has a series of wide segmental arch-headed window openings, all set back behind a low stone wall with metal railings above, stepping down the hill towards Strand Road.

The building is constructed of red brick and render walling with timber casement windows and a slate roof with cast iron guttering.