Art and Technical School

Details

939-1/0/10014 POULTON ROAD 23-AUG-05 Morecambe Art and Technical School

II

Former Art and Technical School, now Morecambe Community Education Centre, 1912, designed by Henry Littler, the County Architect, built by J Hatch & Sons of Lancaster at a cost of £14,000. Baroque style, in glazed red Accrington brick with cream stone dressings, with Lakeland slate roof. Three storeys including basement level. PLAN: An irregular rectangle with main entrance at one end (south-east) leading to spine corridor with rooms to either side on all three floors and stairs to the left of an entrance hall. Roof has classical cupola on ridge towards front with a weather vane depicting the ship of knowledge, and two smaller cupolas towards the rear. Several tall chimney stacks with stone bands at the top. Rain water goods are largely cast, some hopper heads with rose motif, others with date. Railings with Art Nouveau design surround the site: this design is repeated internally and on balcony railings. EXTERIOR: Main entrance front (south-east) onto Poulton Road has a shallow flight of steps leading to porch with round-headed arch opening with ashlar Gibbs surround, stone and brick banding to the sides, and balcony above with iron railings. Main block of three storeys, with three windows at first floor and keyed diocletian window in dentilated pedimented gable above. Windows are 24-panes with banded stone and brick lintels and brick aprons to ground and first floors, segmental arched to basement, first floor windows divided by banded pilasters repeated as quoin strips to either side. Two storey (basement and ground floor) block to each side with 12 pane window to each floor matching others, and brick parapet above ashlar string course. North-east elevation three storeys except at east corner where only two. Windows as before with some variations. Three window central block defined by brick pilasters and topped with dentilated segmental open pediment with keyed oculus. To the right, two further three window blocks defined by pilasters, first floors with three stepped windows then single large window; the larger windows having a raised roof line above. To left of central block, single window block with first floor window having segmental arch top, then drop to two storeys. Keyed oculus at the side of three-storey part. South-west elevation is similar to north-east, but with more regular fenestration to the rear and larger windows in right hand 3-storey block which contains the main stair. INTERIOR: Steps lead in through the porch and panelled external doors with glass panelled surround, some leaded glass, to a half-tiled entrance lobby. From here the staircase with wooden rail and balusters leads up to first floor, and through a door with glass panel to left and semi-circular fanlight above to basement. Double glass-panelled doors with glass panels to either side and above to main corridor. Corridor has rooms off to each side, and is tiled to half height with glass panelled screens to the rooms, and half glazed doors with original door furniture. First floor has spinal corridor with parquet flooring and roof lights, finely glazed fanlights above doors in corridor, one door a replacement. Classrooms, some subdivided, have suspended ceilings but are otherwise intact, two with original fireplaces; one in south corner with wood and tile surround and narrow grate, the other in room above the entrance lobby with tiled surround. This room has French windows out to balcony. Further stairs lead up to attic and cupola. Basement in similar style to ground floor. Some adaptations to accomodate disabled access etc. HISTORY: Opened 2nd October 1912 as the Art and Technical School, it functioned as this until the outbreak of World War One when it was commandeered by the local military. It returned to civilian use in 1919, when the basement and ground floor became a Grammar School. The school gradually took over the whole building and remained there until a new school was built in 1938. The college then reverted to providing further education and at some point was transferred to the ownership of Lancaster & Morecambe College of Further Education. The building is now threatened with closure and disposal.

The building is of special architectural interest as a particularly well-preserved example of Edwardian Baroque educational architecture, designed as a specialist Art and Technical institution by an educational Authority clearly intent on investing in high quality educational provision.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

492143

Legacy System:

LBS

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