“Salford House” Model Lodging House Bloom Street Salford

Salford House was opened in 1894 as a Model Lodging House, provided as part of a comprehensive scheme under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890. The aim was to re-house single males from clearance areas. Although this original theory had long since faded, for almost a century Salford House provided accommodation for a very wide section of the male community who for various reasons choose to live in a community-based type of residence.

A CORPORATION MODEL LODGING-HOUSE IN SALFORD. The Salford Corporation, apart from the scheme in hand for providing workpeople’s dwellings have made another new departure in the establishment of a model lodging house for men which would provide living room for 285 men. The experiment is interesting as being the first of its kind that has been made in this district. The house has been built in Bloom Street, close to the gas offices of the Corporation, on a piece of land rather irregular in shape, which has a frontage of 150 feet to Bloom Street, with a depth at one end of 57 feet, at the other 120 feet, and a total area of 1,410 yards. The site was already in the possession of the Corporation, and was transferred from the Improvement Committee to the Health Committee for £1,550. As the London County Council, at the time the building of the Salford lodging-house was decided on, were also building a model lodging-house, the Corporation agreed to base their scheme on the plans adopted by the London County Council, introducing improvements which experience showed to be desirable. The building thus erected consists of two main blocks, each five storeys high, both fronting the street. The two are separated by an entrance hall of one storey. Under this arrangement plenty of light and air are admitted to the four sides of the sleeping rooms, which occupy the whole of the three upper storeys. The building is of ordinary brick, “dressed with terra-cotta. The principal doorway, of course, leads into the central hall, which is 30 feet wide and 36 feet long. In the hall are the offices of the manager. On the basement on the left side of the hall the “day-room” is placed. This rom is 71 feet by 31 feet and 14 feet high. It is lighted at the sides by windows, and will be warmed by three stoves and two ordinary fire grates. It is proposed to make this room as convenient as possible for the day use of the lodgers. Smoking will be allowed, and the news of the day provided for reading. Writing materials and desks will also be found. There will be no objection to conversation, and according to the custom of ordinary lodging houses, the lodgers will be allowed to engage in the making of various small articles by the sale of which a living is sometimes gained. In the evenings the room will be available for entertainments and concerts, in the provision of which the Corporation will no doubt find a good deal of voluntary aid. Opening out of the large room is a “locker room” in which a small numbered locker will be provided for each lodger, and the number of his locker will correspond with the number of his bed in the dormitory. The dining room, which is 48 feet by 31 feet, is on the right of the entrance hall. Quite a sufficiency of cooking ranges and grills have been set up here. The room will also have a small grocery shop, a crockery-ware room, and a kitchen and scullery. The ide, of course, is that a lodger who needs a meal and has not obtained the necessary supplies may be able, without further inconvenience, to by what he needs, cook his food in the kitchen as is ordinarily done in men’s lodging houses – or on the grill – and return the utensils and crockery to the attendant to be cleaned. At the rear of the entrance hall lavatories, baths, laundries and other conveniences are provided in a range of one storey buildings. The laundry is fitted with steam washing and drying machinery, which will be worked by the women attendants, who will also repair the clothing of the lodgers. The scale of charges will be fixed at as low a rate as possible. Above the ground floor the building is divided into two main blocks, with approaches, on the pavilion system. Three large dormitories are provided in each block, and these again are in one block each divided into forty-eight “cubicles” or sleeping apartments, and in the other block into forty-seven “cubicles,” giving sleeping room altogether to 285 lodgers. The space allowed for each sleeper is about 600 cubic feet, or twice the space that a common lodging house, under the maximum laid down by the law, affords each lodger. Each sleeping apartment has a spring mattress, a flock bed, blankets, sheets and quilt. A chair and a locked box, with necessary “dressing room“ materials are also provided. The ventilation of the whole building is well done, and as far as possible, all precautions have been taken against fire. Fire drills of the attendants and permanent lodgers will occasionally be held. The house is now practically ready for opening, and the inner arrangements will necessarily be placed under the control of a manager, for whose use a small detached house has been built. The cost of the building, land and furniture has been £15,000. The charge for the beds with other accommodation will be two shillings weekly, and it is reckoned that this, with the rent of the small shops, will bring in an annual income of £1,500, which should meet the expenditure and leave a few pounds in hand. [Manchester Guardian 5 October 1894 page 8]

SALFORD CORPORATION MODEL LODGING-HOUSE. The model lodging house built in Bloom Street by the Salford Corporation was opened on Saturday last by Mr Alderman Dickins, chairman of the Health Committee. The Mayor of Salford (Alderman Sir W H Bailey) and a large number of members of the Council were present and were shown over the building by the borough engineer, Mr J Corbett and his assistant Mr G H Wyatt. Afterwards, the building was thrown open, and it is expected that the accommodation provided, which includes 285 beds, will be readily taken up. [Manchester Guardian 16 October 1894 page 5]

MODEL LODGING HOUSES, SALFORD. We give the ground plan of these houses, which have just been opened. The ground plan explains itself; the dormitories, on the cubicle system, occupy the three floors over the dining room and day room. The cubicle divisions are of sheet steel. Each cubicle against the wall has a window, part of which is hung on pivots, so that the inmate may command extra ventilation for himself without interfering with the general ventilation of the ward. From the ceiling of each room a foul air outlet shaft runs up to the roof, where it terminates in a cross tube, running from one side of the roof to the other, with louvre outlets; so that the wind, from whichever direction it blows, may create an “exhaust” at one or other end of the cross table. The fresh air inlets are all provided near the floor level. Those in the dormitories are all constructed so as to bring the air into the aisles or passages, not into the cubicles, and the heating coils are so arranged that the cold air impinges upon them and may be warmed before being distributed through the room. In the day-room the fresh air is admitted through the Galton stoves, and is warmed to a comfortable temperature before distribution. The dining room will only be used for short periods, and the opening windows will suffice for its adequate ventilation. The whole construction of the building is, as far as possible, fire resisting. The floors of the dormitories and day-rooms are of solid planks, grooved and fitted with iron tongues, the stair treads are of greenheart timber, carried on steel framework; the cubicle divisions are of sheet steel. The floors of the kitchen, scullery and bathroom are constructed of rolled steel joists and concrete. The contractors for the main building were Messrs William Southern and Sons, and the plans, specifications and quantities were prepared in the office of the Borough Engineer, Mr Corbett. Mr T B Patterson has acted as Clerk of Works. [Builder 20 October 1894 page 275]

LODGING HOUSE - The town council of Salford have just built a model lodging house for men in Bloom Street on a site containing an area of 1,410 square yards. The scheme is based upon plans recently adopted by the London County Council and the building consists of two blocks, each five storeys in height, carried out in brick with terra-cotta dressings. The central hall is 30 feet by 36 feet, the day-room 71 feet by 31 feet and 14 feet high, and the dining room 48 feet by 31 feet. Sleeping accommodation has been provided for 285 lodgers at a total cost for land, buildings and furniture of £15,000. [Building News 12 October 1894 page 521]

 The Model Lodging House in Bloom Street, and various other sanitary undertakings by the City of Salford were considered "the best of the kind I have ever seen" by Dr Bruce Low, Medical Inspector to the Local Government Board. [British Architect, 25 January 1895 Page 72]

Reference    Manchester Courier Tuesday 14 February 1893
Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 October 1894 page 8
Reference     Builder 20 October 1894 Page 275 with ground floor plan
Reference    Building News 12 October 1894 page 521
Reference    Manchester Guardian 16 October 1894 page 5 – opening
Reference    British Architect, 25 January 1895 Page 72