Blackfriars Road Baths



In March of 2013, when I took the image above, 31 Blackfriars Road was home to OMI-architects.  When the building was opened in 1880, at the cost of £2,310, it was the Blackfriars Road Baths.  Apparently, the building featured two swimming pools, 3 slipper baths and one vapour bath, although it seems hard to imagine how they fitted all of that into a building of that size.  It was designed by the Borough Engineers Brockbank & Wormall.

English Heritage has listed the building as GradeII and they described its features as follows:  "Brick with terracotta dressings and part-glazed roof. Facade expressed as 2 storeys, with central pedimented feature over entrance in wide gable. Moulded 4-centred arched doorway with pilasters sprung from corbels each side, carrying continuous string course. Grouped arched windows each side, in 2 pairs. Paired windows to each side above, and central paired windows with mullions and transoms. Pedimented centrepiece has decorative terracotta panelling and pilasters each side which continue as finials. Gabled glazed roof structure behind."




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