Tongland Power Station

Tongland Power Station, built in 1934, is a large, symmetrical power station designed in a Classical Modern style, with consulting engineers Sir Alexander Gibb, Merz and McLellan (Electrical), and Payler and Son (Glasgow) as construction engineers. The building is constructed of painted reinforced concrete. It has a roughly T-shaped plan, with a detached surge tower and valve house located to the north.

The main power station block is two storeys high and seven bays wide. It features recessed eaves, a blocking course, and full-height pilasters. A central doorway has double timber doors inscribed with “Tongland Power Station, 1934”. This is flanked by a pair of small-pane windows. Single, narrow, round-arched windows occupy the outer bays, with lower terminating bays featuring bipartite windows with pilastered transoms.

The north elevation has ten bays, with a three-bay return to the west. An arcaded ground floor extends to the terminal bays on the right (south). A slightly advanced porch is found in the re-entrant angle to the west, with a large timber door and rectangular top-lights. A continuous run of bipartite rectangular small-pane windows runs along the centre and left (east) side, separated by pilasters.

The east elevation, which has a deep basement, displays windows similar to those on the north side, with two additional rectangular windows providing basement access.

The rear (south) elevation mirrors the north side, with a tower advanced to the left (west) and a lower two-bay block to the far left (west). The tower has rectangular small-pane windows, bipartite on the second floor.

The roof is flat and features cast-iron rainwater goods integrated behind the blocking course.

The interior of the power station is plain, with a double-height space and a large travelling crane on a steel gantry. Former administrative areas and the entrance hall retain some oak panelling, and some floors are made of wooden blockwork.

To the north of the power station is a large steel water tank supported on a continuous arcade of concrete arches. A valve house, six bays by two bays, is integrated to the south, featuring a pilastered ground floor with a banded base course. Ground floor windows have small panes, with louvered rectangular openings above.

Boundary walls, integrated with the structure, run along the front (west) elevation. Low, painted concrete walls with a shallow curved profile top the boundaries.