Seymour Place Public Baths, St. Marylebone

This building is now being erected for the Marylebone Borough Council at Seymour Place Bryanston Place and Shouldham Street. Seymore Place Public Baths The general departmental arrangement will be seen from the plans. The large swimming bath is to be convertible into a public hall and when used for this purpose the principal entrance will be from Seymour Place. The main entrance to the public baths building proper is from Bryanston Place with entrance hall containing ticket and towel issuing office. Large dressing rooms planned right and left of the entrance hall containing dressing boxes, counters and clothes storage accommodation are provided for men and women respectively. Access to the large swimming bath is through cleansing rooms provided in connection with each of the above dressing rooms. This swimming bath has a water area of 132 ft. by 42 ft. with a diving pool at the deep end. Wide bathers’ promenades surround the pool and counters for the service of light refreshments are planned for the use of bathers. The large swimming bath hall has been planned with a view to its conversion into a public hall in the winter months and there would be seating for approximately 1,400 persons facing the stage in addition to the side galleries to accommodate 450, which would be used both for swimming bath and public hall purposes. A refreshment room is provided on the first floor and provision is also made for using the hall for private cinema purposes. The second-class swimming bath will be in use throughout the year. It is 100 ft. by 30 ft. and the dressing rooms for men and women adjoin. In this instance also a counter and clothes storage system is proposed in addition to the dressing boxes and the access for bathers from the dressing room to the bath is through cleansing rooms. The slipper baths, 50 in number, are planned at first floor level along time Bryanston Place front and they are directly accessible from the baths entrance hall. The entrance to time public wash house department is from Shouldham Street.and the sloping way provides access to the entrance haIl and ticket office, pram store, waiting rooms, lavatories, etc. The public wash house contains 25 washing troughs and eight washing machines and sinks, 50 drying horses and six hydro extractors. Time mangling and ironing room contains mangles, ironing tables and electric irons. The baths superintendent’s residential flat consists of two living rooms, three bedrooms, bath room, kitchen and offices and is planned on the Shouldham Street front being reached by a private entrance amid staircase.Time lower hall is accessible from Seymour Place and will be available when the public hall is in use for the provision of circulation to the cloak rooms etc. A large kitchen, service rooms, scullery and store rooms are also provided for the use of banquets.The establishment laundry adjoins the heating chamber, and a system of chutes for towels is proposed in this connection. Provision is made for filtration plant and the heating and hot water supply throughout the building is to be by means of electrical thermal storage plant. Club rooms, staff mess rooms, artistes’ dressing rooms, superintendent’s office and matron’s room, together with a squash racquets court ore also provided. The elevations are to be finished with multi-coloured facing bricks and Portland stone dressings and the general roofing is of Italian pattern tiles. The cupola over the public baths entrance is covered with copper.

Mr. Kenneth H. B. Cross, M.A., F.R.I.B.A. (of A. W. S. and K. M. B. Cross), of 46 New Bond-street, London, W.1, is the architect.

Reference           Baths and Bath Engineering (The Official Journal of the National Association of Bath Superintendents) February 1936 Issue 24 Volume 3  page 31-34. Editor; Jenkyn Griffiths B.Sc; P.A.Inst.W.E