Hammersmith Police Station

Details

TQ 2378 SHEPHERD's BUSH ROAD, W6
(West side)
333/6/10014 Hammersmith Police Station
(No. 226)

GV II

Divisional Station for the Metropolitan Police. 1939 by Donald McMorran of Farquharson and McMorran, winners of competition the previous year.
Pink narrow bricks to front and return, with Portland stone and Cornish granite plinth on reinforced concrete frame, stock bricks for rear elevations, metal roof.
PLAN: long, narrow rectangular plan in 3 sections formed by 2 courtyards, with principal offices and conference room to front, open-plan offices and canteen to rear, and central cell block reached by separate entrance at rear. Side entrance serves offices and basement locker-rooms. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys and basement. 5-bay composition with central entrance.
Rusticated quoins and console brackets support coat of arms carved by G Kruger Gray.
All windows to front are metal casements in timber surrounds, those to ground floor set under voussoirs in slightly rusticated granite plinth and with recesses implying blocked basement fenestration underneath; those to first floor set in architrave surrounds with shallow console brackets and linked by sill band. Those to second floor set in the piers between the windows of the lower floors, with keystones and blind recesses over. Surmounting this pyramidal composition is a single tall stack of brick and Portland stone that is a crucial part of the composition. 2 blue lamps on iron brackets provide a traditional note at ground-floor level. Disabled ramp added in 1994-5 not of special interest, save that it incorporates bronze posts from original steps. Square-panelled porte cochere with niche above gives on to access road leading to side entrance and stables (stables not of special architectural or historic interest).
Side and rear elevations of stock brick with upper storeys of timber sash windows under gauged brick heads, the windows remarkable for their thick timber and sash chains. Glass bricks light ground-floor cells. Glass bricks, too, to the surrounds of central door giving on to main stairwell.
INTERIOR: front block retains original internal features. Entrance hall lined in stone with arches left and right now infilled with doors (one original). Coffered timber ceiling. War memorial `In Memory of the Men of F Division who gave their Lives 1939-1945' moved to present position in 1995-6. To right stone stairs with stone dado under plaster groin vaulted ceilings and with stone arches lead up to first floor offices which retain original window surrounds, doors and skirtings. All this work survives despite later partitioning of staircase areas. Attic stairs with unmoulded lattice balustrades and turned newels lead to what was once accommodation for resident officers; these stairs continue with steel handrails to separate entrances at street level. Main entrance in side road leads to double flight staircase in painted tile surround, with some coffering surviving at top of hall and plaster vaulting under false ceiling. The rest of the rear interiors not of special interest. In 1994-5 a link was made through to a separate building across the access road, which is not of special architectural or historic interest.
Included as one of Britain's most sophisticated police station designs, and as an early work by Donald McMorran, one of the most important architects to continue the classical style into the later twentieth century. Hammersmith Police Station incorporates many of the architectural ideas developed by him in the 1950s.
(Sources: Architects' Journal: 28 March 1940: 331-338;
Building: December 1942: 271-272;
Harwood E and Saint A: Exploring England's Heritage: London: HMSO: 1991: 50)


Listing NGR: TQ2336078800


This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 29 January 2018.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

468852

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Harwood, , Saint, , Exploring England's Heritage London, (1991), 50
Architects Journal in 28 March, (1940), 331-338
Building in December, (1942), 271-272

Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 29 January 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/256111

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