Civic Centre (Former Glan y Don Hall)

Civic Centre (Former Glan y Don Hall)

This is a three-storey Arts and Crafts building with a staggered T-plan, rendered in roughcast with stone dressings and concrete tiled roofs imitating Cotswold stone. Brick axial and end wall stacks are used throughout. The three arms of the T project from a central tower that houses the staircase within, with the entrance in the north-east arm facing south. The architectural style belongs firmly to the Arts and Crafts movement, characterised by free and expressive planning with northern stylistic references, evident in the use of roughcast, the dominance of the central tower, steep roofs, and gables. Small-paned sash windows, predominantly 24-pane, appear throughout the building.

The entrance front is two storeys with attics, comprising a five-window range. A wide pedimented doorway reached by steps forms the central feature, flanked by paired windows on each floor, with a tripartite window positioned above the entrance. A continuous sill band runs to the first floor, and hipped dormer windows sit within the roof. A projecting lateral chimney stack rises to the right of the entrance.

The stair tower to the left is architecturally stressed through a stone lower storey with bands and angle quoins. It features a hipped roof with a central gabled dormer facing east, containing a tall round-headed window that cuts the eaves line. The lower stages show irregular fenestration, and side wall stacks are present.

The advanced south wing displays narrow paired gables projecting from its east elevation, each with sash windows on every floor. A wider gable beyond features heavy stonework with scrolled gable coping that emphasises its angle, and windows are grouped in threes with continuous sill bands. A projecting oval stair turret is lit by long windows set into full-height recesses, with a continuous sill band at the angle where this outer gable meets the wide main block. A secondary entrance (renewed) is set in the gable wall, with a triple window above and paired windows to the attic.

The west-facing elevation of this wing is loosely articulated as four bays. The inner bay to the left contains a composite window of five sashes, with a plastered architrave suggesting a Venetian window. Bays two and four feature canted bay windows with ogival leaded roofs. These bays are stressed by gables that rise above the eaves line, with quoins and scrolled copings. Other windows are characteristic tall sashes with a continuous sill band to the first floor and hipped dormers in the roof.

The south-facing elevation of the main east-west range features paired gables advanced from the main roof line, each with a single window on every floor. An advanced gabled cross wing to the left contains a single tall architrave panel to the stair windows above a sundial. A lower gable projects from the west of this wing, displaying a canted bay window with ogival leaded roof to the ground floor and a tripartite sash window above.

The rear of the east-west range is planned in two sections. The west range has asymmetrical gables on either side of a four-window range, with triple windows in the ground floor of the left-hand gable and a canted bay window with swept ogival roof in the central section. The east range is slightly recessed and features three gables with a deep canted bay window with leaded roof projecting from the ground floor of the central gable. The leadwork over the canted bay windows is enriched with vine-scroll decoration to the guttering.

Much of the original interior planning survives intact. The building is characterised by long, very wide corridors with numerous small rooms opening from them. The main staircase is contained within the central tower, winding around an arcaded central well.

This is an excellent example of the eclectic Arts and Crafts architecture of Percy Worthington, combining bold, picturesque massing with restrained and consistent detailing, resulting in a building of considerable architectural quality.