ARCHITECT'S DEPARTMENT: COUNCIL BUILDINGS

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: LCC/AR/CB
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: ARCHITECT'S DEPARTMENT: COUNCIL BUILDINGS
Date(s)	: 1836-1964
Level of description	: Collection View parent record
Extent	: 13.47 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: LCC | London County Council x London County Council

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

In 1889 the Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works was transferred to the newly formed London County Council, as the responsibilities of the MBW were being transferred to the LCC. This was later confirmed by the London Building Act 1894, in which the LCC was given power to appoint a "superintending architect of metropolitan buildings" to oversee the enforcement of regulations outlined in the Act. Actual enforcement would be done by the District Surveyors, who had to make a monthly return to the Council reporting on any new buildings and any infringement of the Act.

The role of the Architect soon developed as the range of structures constructed under order of the Council grew. By 1909 there were 13 Committees dealing with construction works, and 35 sub-committees. The work included the construction of housing (under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890), including slum clearance; construction of buildings in connection with the introduction of electricity; construction of educational buildings, from nursery schools to colleges; construction of fire brigade stations; construction of hospitals and institutions; street and road improvements; maintenance and construction of bridges; public parks; Weights and Measures Stations and Gas Meter Testing Stations. The Architect was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of all these buildings.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the London County Council Architect's Department relating to Council Buildings: standard specifications, tenders and quotations, 1922-1940; materials, 1930-1937; air raid precautions at Council premises, 1937-1947; salvage of waste metals and other materials, 1925-1942; lists of Council premises damaged by enemy action, 1940-1945; papers relating to the construction of hospitals and other institutions, 1929-1947, including standard planning and points of construction, fire prevention arrangements and transfer of property under the National Health Service Act 1946; papers relating to the construction of museums, 1914-1938; papers relating to the construction of housing estates, 1898-1934; papers relating to the construction of schools, 1910-1939; papers of the Board of Education Departmental Committee on the Construction of School Buildings, 1925-1927; papers relating to the construction of playgrounds, 1911-1928; programmes of building work for the Children's Department, 1950-1960; standards for car parks, 1955-1959; papers of Housing Layout Committee, 1952-1958; papers of Architects' Housing Conferences, 1950-1959; development work on Housing type plans, 1951-1962; papers relating to homes for the elderly, 1934-1961; papers relating to halfway houses and hostels, 1952-1959; design of school furniture, 1949-1959; investigations leading to selection of the Hook, Hampshire, for site of new town, 1955-1959; papers relating to Basingstoke, 1952-1963; Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Committee on Official Architecture, 1913-1929; papers relating to work done by non-LCC architects and criticism of the official Architect, 1905-1920; papers relating to town development, including Bracknell, Corby, Hemel Hempstead, Letchworth, Welwyn and Hatfield, 1952-1964; papers relating to the development of the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank.

Sample files relating to individual premises, comprising subject and policy files retained when a large number of similar files were destroyed, to illustrate the construction and maintenance works carried out at typical LCC developments. Examples include housing estates, schools and colleges, a workhouse, a hospital, a historic building, bridges and County Hall.

Reports, including surveys by the Architect of properties transferred to the LCC, including hospitals, institutions, schools, children's homes, and ambulance stations, 1929-1930; surveys of general and special hospitals, 1934-1937; minutes and reports of Departmental Committee on Hospital Standards, 1930-1934; schedule of prices for repair to buildings, 1915-1919; register of construction works, 1892-1912.

Visitor's Books for historic building Prince Henry's Room, 17 Fleet Street, 1906-1925; publication The Architectural Work of the London County Council by WE Riley, Architect to the Council, 1909; plans of demolished or disused buildings including Clerkenwell Sessions House, India Office Store, Chandos Street Fire Station, Tooley Street Fire Station, Clapham Fire Station, Bayswater Fire Station and Dulwich Fire Station.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

LCC/AR/CB/01: Construction and maintenance; LCC/AR/CB/02: Individual Premises; LCC/AR/CB/03: Reports; LCC/AR/CB/04: Miscellaneous; LCC/AR/CB/05: Plans of demolished premises.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: City of London.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Acquired with the records of its parent body, the London County Council.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Papers of the LCC Architect's Department: LCC/AR/BA: London Building Acts; LCC/AR/CB: Council Buildings, LCC/AR/CD: Civil Defence; LCC/AR/CON: Contracts; LCC/AR/GEN: Organisational Financial and General; LCC/AR/HB: Historic Buildings, LCC/AR/HS: Housing; LCC/AR/PP: Presented Plans; LCC/AR/SCH: Council Buildings; LCC/AR/TH: Theatres, Cinemas and Places of Entertainment; LCC/AR/TP: Town Planning; LCC/AR/WAR: Emergency Wartime Measures.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
April to June 2009