History

Built in 1923, the foundation stone records the history of the building as "Laboratories erected together with the Archway in honour of the men of North Wales who fell in the Great War". The university college had recognised the need for new science buildings after the war, and the North Wales Heroes Memorial Fund was launched to provide a memorial, bursaries and new buildings for the science departments of the college. The foundation stone for the Memorial Building was laid by the Prince of Wales on the occasion of the opening of the Memorial Arch. The building was designed by A.E. Munby, a specialist in the design of laboratories, and opened in 1926.

Exterior

University building in modern style with echoes of classicism. Brick with stone dressings; flat roofs carrying a series of greenhouses (probably modern replacements of originals). 2 storeyed, a long symmetrical façade articulated as 1-4-3-4-1 bays, in which the central and outer bays are advanced, and the bays are divided by pilasters. Central bays have higher blocking course and are further emphasised by ashlar centre-piece with channelled pilasters with wreathed capitals, segmental pediment with modillions and stepped blocking course; entrance with paired doors incorporating glazed panels with diagonal glazing (echoed in stair detail internally); paired 18-pane sash windows above doorway. Flanking bays of central block have paired 12-pane sash windows: ashlar cornice at first floor. To either side of the centre, 4-bay ranges also have ashlar cornice and brick blocking course, and paired sash windows - those to ground floor with gauged brick heads and ashlar key stones. Outer bays are similarly detailed, but have higher stepped blocking course and 4-window return elevations, with 18-pane paired sashes. Long wing at rear left is an 8-window range with paired 12-pane sash windows. Rear elevation partly obscured by more recent additions, but distinguished in particular by the large stair window in the advanced central bay housing main staircase, and the tall window lighting the secondary staircase.

Low brick wall with ashlar coping to forecourt, with paired gate-piers with stone cornices, linked by railings with good art-deco detail. Simpler paired inner piers and gates at head of steps.

Interior

Entrance lobby at centre giving access to main staircase and spinal corridor which runs the length of the building at the rear. Plan comprises a series of offices/teaching rooms along the length of the building, with laboratories and lecture halls in the advanced wing to either side. Secondary staircase close to angle with rear wing. Lobby has plaster panelled walls and plain barrel vaulted ceiling. Moulded architrave to archway at rear. Staircase has cast-iron balustrade - a series of rectangular panels with a pattern of alternately diagonal and rectangular bracing. Secondary staircase has similar detail, and 2-bay arcade to landing. Some internal detail (deep moulded plaster cornices, 6-panelled doors) survives, and more may be concealed behind suspended ceilings.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a good example of a university building in a consistent (and well-preserved) modern-classical idiom. Also listed for its historic interest as an integral part of the North Wales Heroes Memorial and therefore strongly associated with the nearby Memorial Archway.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29508104

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)