Vale Resource Centre

Cadw's description

Location

Central block of a wide symmetrical composition on a spacious elevated site to N of town centre. Site bounded by Buttrills, Barry, and College Roads; terraced grounds to S.

History

1913-14. Designed by Teather and Wilson, architects of Cardiff as education block of Women's Training College.

Exterior

Edwardian Wrenaissance style. Two storey red brick block with bathstone frontispiece and dressings. Hipped slate roofs with tiled ridges. Five bay frontispiece topped by tapering slate-hung belcote, diagonal buttresses, arched louvres and clock face, weathervane to dome. Open pediment to recessed centre, swagged cartouche linked to keyblock over arched head of first floor Venetian window, Ionic half columns, angel and urn relief frieze over Tuscan colonnade to rusticated ground floor. Advanced and rusticated outer bays with cornice and parapets, broken pediments clasping oculi to first floor architraves, arched heads below. Double entrance doors under traceried fanlight. Seven bay elevations to sides linked by bracket cornice and plain frieze, panelled brick pilasters to corners, freestone aprons to upper floor, cambered heads with keystones and brick aprons to ground floor, small-pane sash windows. Arched heads to side elevations with tall stair lights, rear roofs with domed and arched ventilators.

Interior

Retains good original rooms including entrance hall with coffered ceiling and Tuscan columns; board room over said to have segmental vault to ceiling with ribs on volute brackets and groins at arched window head. Fine 7-bay segmentally vaulted hall runs to rear, transverse ribs link to pilasters, arched architraves to windows, panelled dados, modern platform to outer end. Second transverse (former library) building with lunette windows to N front.

Reason for designation

Included as fine example of early C20 educational architecture.

Group value.