Cottage School Houses Withington Workhouse (Architectural Competition)

CHORLTON - At a meeting of the Chorlton Guardians, on Friday last, a report on the proposed erection of new cottage school‑houses at Withington workhouse was considered. The committee some time since instructed Mr. H. G. Goldsmith, of Manchester, to prepare plans for the erection of six blocks of school‑houses, with suitable buildings for schools and administrative arrangements. Mr. Goldsmith visited and carefully inspected the schools at West Ham, and as a result produced a set of plans which fully carried out the ideas of the committee, except as to the cost which the architect estimated would be £19,800. Further consideration of the question of cost induced the committee to seek a solution of the difficulty by obtaining plans from other architects, and a premium of 15 guineas was offered to each of the following - namely, Mr L. Booth, Messrs Mangnall and Littlewoods, Messrs Nicholson and Mottram, and Mr E. W. Charlton. All the plans were sent in on the 9th October, and they have received the careful consideration of the committee at several meetings held for the purpose. The estimated cost of the buildings proposed by Messrs Nicholson and Mottram, £17.600, and by Mr Charlton, £17,000, induced the committee to put their plans out of the competition at an early stage. The plans submitted by Mr Booth and Messrs Mangnall and Littlewoods were almost equally effective in character, and the estimated cost of the former was given at £15,770, and the latter at £12, 970.  Neither of the two sets of plans provided exactly what the committee desired, and after carefully considering which set could be most easily adapted, the committee selected the plans of Messrs Mangnall and Littlewoods, and requested those gentlemen to make the necessary alterations and additions. These were subsequently submitted to the committee, with a statement that the entire cost would be increased by a sum of £1,500, making the total estimate of cost £14,470. The report was adopted. [Building News 15 November 1878 page 515]

Reference           Building News 15 November 1878 page 515