Further designs for the Privy Council Offices, March 1825 (5)

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Sir John Soane office drawings: the drawings of Sir John Soane and the office of Sir John Soane
- Office of Works
  - London: Board of Trade and Privy Council Offices, Whitehall & Downing Street: designs for new offices and scheme for the improvement of Downing Street, 1823-33 (284)
    - Designs for the Board of Trade and Privy Council Offices and preliminary designs for the new Home Office, January-September 1825 (60)

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Reference number

SM (143) 50/1/28 (144) 50/1/31 (145) 50/1/30 (146) 63/1/4v (147) 50/1/29

Purpose

Further designs for the Privy Council Offices, March 1825 (5)

Aspect

143 Plan of the Ground Floor 144 Plan of the One Pair or Principal Floor 145 Plan of the Ground Floor of the New Council Offices &^c 146 Plan of the Ground Floor 147 Plan of the One Pair or Principal Floor

Scale

(143-147) bar scales of 1/6 inch to 1 foot

Inscribed

143 as above, New Council Offices &^c, labelled: Entrance Hall (twice), (pencil) M^r Humphry / 23'0'' by 17'0'', Doorkeeper, Staircase, Passage, Principal / Staircase, Water Closet (twice), 19'0'' by 21'9'', 11'0'' by 21'9'', Clerk / 18'0'' by 21'9'', Staircase, Waiting Room / 13'6'' by 17'0'', Water Closet (twice), Clerk / 13'0'' by 12'3'' (twice) 144 as above, New Council Offices &^c, labelled: (pencil) Robing Room / 10'0'' by 12'0'', 23'0'' by 17'0'', (pencil) M^r Greville / 23'0'' by 17'0'', Staircase, (pencil) M^r Buller / 24'0'' by 17'0'', Principal / Staircase, Water Closet (twice), The Lord President's Room / 19'0'' by 21'9'', Committee Room / 30'0'' by 21'9'', Staircase, 14'6'', 18.6, Lords Retiring Room / 13'6'' by 17'0'', Water / Closet (twice), Lobby, Ante Room / 25'0'' by 14'0'', Council Chamber / 34'9'' by 40'0'' 145 as above, labelled: 23'0'' by 11'0'', 10'6'' by 8'6'', Staircase, 23'0'' by 17'0'', 11'6'' by 17'0'', Entrance Hall, Principal / Staircase, 19'0'' by 21'9'', 11'0'' by 21'9'', 18'0'' by 21'9'', Staircase, 13'9'' by 20'0'', 13'9'' by 16'0'', Water Closet (twice), Lobby, Entrance Hall / from Downing Street, Porter / 10.6 by 12.6, Lobby, Staircase, Library / 34'4'' by 26'6'' 146 as above, New Council Offices &^c, labelled: 23'3'' by 11'0'', Staircase, 11'0'' by 8'6'', (pencil) M^r Humphry / 23'0'' by 17'0'', 11'6'' by 17'0'', Entrance Hall, Principal Staircase, (pencil) Clerk / 19'0'' by 21'9'', (pencil) Waiting Room / 11'0'' by 21'9'', (pencil) Clerk / 18'0'' by 21'9'', Staircase, (pencil) Q[uer]^y Clerk / 13'9'' by 20'0'', (pencil), Waiting Room / 13'9'' by 16'0'', Water Closet (twice), Lobby, Entrance Hall, Porter / 10'6'' by 12'6'', Staircase, Library / 34'4'' by 26'6'' 147 as above, New Council Offices &^c, labelled: Barrister's Room / 23'3'' by 11'0'', Lobby, Staircase, Robing Room / 11'0'' by 8'6'', M^r Greville / 23'0'' by 17'0'', 11'6'' by 17'0'', M^r Buller / 23'0'' by 17'0'', Principal / Staircase, The Lord President's Room / 19'0'' by 21'9'', Committee Room / 30'0'' by 21'9'', Passage of Communication, Staircase, Waiting Room / 13'9'' by 20'0'', The Lords Retiring Room / 13'9'' by 16'0'', Water Closet (twice), Lobby, 4'6'', Ante Room / 22'0'' by 16'0'', Council Chamber / 34'9'' by 40'0''

Signed and dated

(143-147) Lincolns Inn Fields / March 1825

Medium and dimensions

(143) Pen, pink and blue washes (144) pen and pink wash (145) pen, pink, blue and grey washes (146) pen, pink and blue washes (147) pen and pink wash, pricked for transfer on wove paper (141-145) (746 x 537, 720 x 519, 728 x 520, 743 x 532, 749 x 542)

Hand

(143, 144, 146) David Mocatta (1806-82, pupil 1821-27) (145, 147) George Bailey (1792-1860, pupil then assistant 1806-37, curator 1837-60)

Watermark

(143, 145-147) Smith & Allnutt 1820 (144) Smith & Allnutt 1817

Notes

Drawings 143-147 may be paired as 143-144 and 145/146-147 (both drawings 145 and 146 being nearly identical designs for the ground floor of the new Privy Council Offices). The first pair (matching drawings 140-141) has an open newel staircase accessed from the main entrance hall off Whitehall and therefore also has a different arrangement of rooms in the south east (bottom left) corner. The Downing Street entrance is towards the east of the frontage, in the centre of the six columns. In contrast, the same entrance on drawings 145 and 146 is further along Downing Street, to the west of the columns. A grander entrance, it leads to a hall with curved steps on the east and west sides. These drawings match drawing 142. The ante-room before the Council Chamber on drawing 147 is two feet wider than on drawing 144.
At the bottom of drawing 146 in grey wash is a design with detached columns and a new entrance from Whitehall. This is the first trace of the idea of creating a 'pavilion' at the corner of Whitehall and Downing Street.
Drawing 146 is on the verso of one of a set of designs for a new entrance or barrier into London at Hyde Park Corner, dated '9th April 1826'.

Level

Drawing

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Sir John Soane's collection includes some 30,000 architectural, design and topographical drawings which is a very important resource for scholars worldwide. His was the first architect’s collection to attempt to preserve the best in design for the architectural profession in the future, and it did so by assembling as exemplars surviving drawings by great Renaissance masters and by the leading architects in Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries and his near contemporaries such as Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam and George Dance the Younger. These drawings sit side by side with 9,000 drawings in Soane’s own hand or those of the pupils in his office, covering his early work as a student, his time in Italy and the drawings produced in the course of his architectural practice from 1780 until the 1830s.

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