Post Office Buildings, Penrhyn Road, Colwyn Bay

COLWYN BAY - This watering place has progressed so rapidly that the large post office premises in Station-road have long since proved inadequate for their purpose, and the postal authorities have, therefore, decided to erect a more spacious building in Penrhyn Road, opposite the entrance to the proposed railway station. The new building has been designed by Messrs Booth Chadwick and Porter, the cost being estimated at £4,000, and the plans have been approved by the Postmaster General and the Treasury. On the ground floor will be a large public office, the chief clerk’s room, messengers’ room and sorting rooms; the first floor will contain the postmaster’s office, and the second floor the telephone and telegraph instrument rooms. It is a four-storey building, and will consist, in the main, of buff bricks and terra-cotta dressings. Building operations have been commenced this week, the contract having been intrusted to Councillor John Roberts. [Building News 6 December 1901 Page 762]

NEW POST OFFICE FOR COLWYN BAY. HANDSOME BUILDINGS IN PENRHYN ROAD. A most reliable gauge by which to judge the progress of Colwyn Bay is the amount of work done at the Post Office. Accepting that criterion, even the most sceptical must be convinced that Colwyn Bay has developed and is developing literally "by leaps and bounds." The volume of postal work has kept on increasing until it has reached such large dimensions that, with the consequent increase of staff, the accommodation provided at the existing Post Office in Station Road has for some time past proved totally inadequate. In view of these circumstances, and with far less delay than is usually associated with such negotiations, the Post Master General and the Treasury have decided to remove the local business to a larger and more commodious premises. A fine new Post Office, designed on the most modern lines, is to be erected on a piece of land belonging to Mr E. H. Davies, of Exbridge House, situated opposite the Hotel Metropole in Penrhyn Road. When this large building, which will include two suites of offices, is finished, both sides of the street will have been completed, and it is generally believed that, when the new Railway Station is built, Penrhyn Road will become a highly important thoroughfare. The new building, which will harmonise with the magnificent shops already built by Mr E. H. Davies, on the same side of the street, has been designed by Messrs. Booth, Chadwick, & Porter, the well-known architects of Colwyn Bay and Manchester, who are to be credited with all that is best in the splendid architecture of Colwyn Bay. It need hardly be said that, having been entrusted to a firm of such high repute, the designs of the new building incorporate all the latest and most advanced ideas in post office construction, and that when finished the building will be found to be admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is intended. The basement will contain the heating apparatus for the building and the batteries for the electrical instruments. The ground floor will be occupied by the public office, the chief-clerk's room, messengers' room, a spacious sorting-room, and lavatory and sanitary accommodation for the postmen and messengers. Over these will be the postmaster's private office and the male assistants' retiring room. On the second floor will be the female assistants' retiring room, the telephone and telegraph instruments room, and the lavatory and other accommodation for the lady assistants. The third floor will contain a suite of rooms for storage purposes. Messages handed in at the public office on the ground floor will be sent up in a tube to the instrument room to be transmitted by the telegraph operators. The four-storey building will have a frontage of 58 feet, which will consist in the main of buff bricks with terra-cotta dressings. There will be a balcony where public announcements may be made, and the lower corner is taken up as an artistic porch with flagstaff. The approaches for the parcel and letter vans will be made from the rear to the sorting room, and the vans will stand under a glass roof to be loaded with the mail bags. A private entrance leads to the postmaster's office, telegraph and telephone room, and the women's retiring room, so that the girls in this department need not go in through the post-office proper. The architects have been most anxious to provide adequate and first-class sanitary arrangements for all the people employed in the Post Office, and this is quite a feature of the establishment. It is estimated that the cost of the new building will be between £5,000. and £6,000. The contract has been entrusted to Councillor John Roberts, Fern Bank, and work was commenced on Monday of this week. [Weekly News for Colwyn Bay 7 December 1901 page 8]

Reference    Building News 6 December 1901 Page 762 - notes
Reference    Building News 6 December 1901 Page 786 - tenders
Reference    British Architect 13 December 1901 Page ix - tenders
Reference    Builder 7 December 1901 Page 511