Survey Data

Reg No

21517317


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Social


Original Use

Post office


In Use As

Post office


Date

1940 - 1960


Coordinates

157435, 156903


Date Recorded

21/07/2005


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Attached single-bay two-storey tiled post office building, built c. 1950. Flat roof hidden behind parapet wall. Entire first floor comprises floor to ceiling curtain walling in eleven sections with integrated panels above. The whole bay is surrounded by a tiled frame which extends to ground level. A shallow projecting canopy at first floor level has a flat lead roof with tiled front fascia and mosaic tiled soffit. Below canopy is a narrow section of five timber swivel windows with a black faience tiled wall below containing the letter openings, an historic clock and a harp motif. To the east is a recessed entrance porch with white mosaic floor and modern glazed doors, a corresponding recessed section to the west now contains some modern post boxes. Adjacent to this recess is a quadrapartite timber glazed section. Building is attached and connected to the older post office buildings fronting onto Post Office Lane and Henry Street.

Appraisal

A very intact example of late Art Deco/Modernist style public buildings. The façade is a well considered composition exemplifying the clean lines and the International Style of its time. While not relating in building type to its neighbours, this building respects the prevailing building height of the area and is a worthy twentieth-century structure on the streetscape. Its style succeeds in both form and function.