Civic Centre (Former Glan y Don Hall)

Cadw's description

Location

At the E edge of the community, overlooking Eirias Park.

History

Originally known as Glan Y Don Hall and built as a convalescent home 1909-10, by Percy Worthington, architect, of Manchester. It has been used as the civic centre since 1964.

Exterior

Roughcast render with stone dressings and concrete tiled roofs in imitation of the original cotswold stone. Brick axial and end wall stacks. 3 storeys, a staggered t-plan. The 3 arms of the T- project from a central tower (over the staircase within), and the entrance in the NE arm, facing S. Belonging to the Arts and Crafts movement in its free and expressive planning, its stylistic references are northern, with its use of roughcast and the dominance of the central tower, steep roofs and gables. Small-paned (mainly 24-pane) sash windows throughout. Entrance front is 2 storeyed with attics, a 5-window range with wide pedimented doorway up steps, flanked by paired windows on each floor, and with tripartite window above the entrance. Continuous sill band to first floor; hipped dormer windows in roof. Projecting lateral chimney stack to the right. Stair tower to the left is stressed with stone lower storey, bands and angle quoins, and has, hipped roof with central gabled dormer facing E with tall round headed window cutting the eaves line; irregular fenestration in lower stages; side wall stacks.

Advanced S wing has narrow paired gables advanced from its E elevation, with sash windows on each floor and a wider gable beyond, with heavy stonework and scrolled gable coping stressing its angle, windows grouped in 3’s with continuous sill bands. Projecting oval stair turret, lit by long windows set into full height recesses with continuous sill band at the angle of this outer gable and the wide main block of this wing. Secondary entrance (renewed) in this gable wall, with triple window above and paired windows to attic. W facing elevation of this wing is loosely articulated as 4 bays, with composite window of 5 sashes in inner bay to left, the plastered architrave suggesting a venetian window, and canted bay windows with ogival leaded roofs in bays 2 and 4. These bays are stressed by gables which rise above the level of the eaves line, and have quoins and scrolled copings. Other windows are the characteristic tall sashes, with continuous sill band to first floor, and hipped dormers in the roof. S facing elevation to main EW range has paired gables advanced from the main roof line, each with a single window on each floor, and advanced gabled cross wing to left, with single tall architrave panel to stair windows over a sundial. Lower gable projects from the W of this wing, with canted bay window with ogival leaded roof to ground floor, tripartite sash window above. Rear of EW range is planned in 2 sections: W range has asymmetrical gables to either side of a 4-window iron: triple windows in ground floor of left hand gable, and canted bay window with swept ogival roof in central section. E range is slightly recessed and has 3 gables, with deep canted bay window leaded roof projecting from ground floor of central gable. Lead work over canted bay windows is enriched with vine-scroll decoration to guttering.

Interior

Much of the original planning of the building survives: it is characterised by long and very wide corridors with number of small rooms opening off them. The main staircase is contained in the central tower, and winds round an arcaded central well. An excellent example of the eclectic Arts and Crafts architecture of Percy Worthington, which combines bold, picturesque massing with restrained and consistent detailing in a building of considerable architectural quality.