Church House

Cadw's description

Location

Prominently located on a triangular corner site, against the slope of a hill at the junction of Church Street and Top Llan Road.

History

Built as a church hall in 1932; by S Colwyn-Ffoulkes, architect of Colwyn Bay. The design bears similarities with that of St John's Church House, Old Colwyn, by the same architect, built 1935-7.

Exterior

Of buff brick on a moulded plinth with cable-moulded and dentilated string-courses and with tile-coped, roll-moulded parapets; hipped slate roof with tiled ridges to main block, with flat roofs to remainder. Asymmetrical arrangement of large main block running N-S, with lower range adjoining to E. The former has 3 pairs of elegant lancet-like windows with round-arched heads, splayed and moulded reveals and shaped labels; leaded glazing. Apse-like projection to the S with slit windows. The lower, E range has simple arched lights arranged in pairs, 2 flanking 3, each with splayed reveals and shared labels. Extruded in the corner between the main and subsidiary blocks is a bowed open porch with convex profiled slate roof, rising into an octagonal brick chimney of 2 stages. Concertina-type metal grill with internal double doors with lozenge decoration; segmental opening. The rear (E) face, against the rock, has been raised some twenty years ago to give a false roof over a top-lit corridor; corrugated iron roof.

Interior

Tiled porch with glazed double inner doors. Parish room, to L of entrance: of rectangular plan with rounded end walls giving oval impression; coved ceiling, parquet floor. Simple stepped brick fireplace to rounded W end, with tall, plain shelf recesses flanking to R and L. Axial corridor with 4 domed top-lights and doors off to R (opening into main hall) and L (to kitchen, store, toilets and fire exit). Main hall with wooden boarded floor and plain, compartmented ceiling. Exposed brick dado; plastered walls above. Wide chevron-carved wooden fascias above three double-door entrances (from corridor); similar decoration above S-end stage. This has a simple boarded front with arched-headed pilasters and wooden steps. Apsidal end with upper slit-lights; flat concrete ceiling.

Reason for designation

A finely-detailed and inventive example of the work of this important inter-war regional architect.