More information : The six former barrack blocks around Churchill Square, Kingshill were recommeded for Listed Building Status in may 2003. (1)
CHURCHILL SQUARE Kings Hill (former RAF West Malling Buildings 10, 20, 30, 50, 60 & 70 (former barracks) Listed Building Grade II. Group of six airmen's barracks blocks laid out around a square, now in commercial
use. 1939, to 1938 design by J. H. Binge of Air Ministry' Directorate of Works and Buildings (drawing number 1132 and 11587/38). Reinforced concrete floors and roof on stretcher bond cavity walls, roof finish not visible, originally asphalt. PLAN: Each block comprises a 2-storey compact H-plan housing 4 NCOs and 64 airmen. Central entrance to each wing leading to central open-well staircase and internal corridors with rooms each side: further staircases at junctions with cross wing which also has service facilities including a utility room. EXTERIOR: Steel 10-pane vertical casements to wings, some horizontal units to cross
wing set to continuous thin concrete lintel and sill bands. Outer fronts of wings in 2:5:2-bays, with deep 2-light windows, and to the centre 5 bays to continuous sill and lintel bands, the upper band continued around the whole, and below a brick 'frieze' and square-edged roof overhang. Central pair of panelled doors (except replacement doors to Building 60), in rendered concrete cheeks to and with flat canopy. On the front away from the parade ground is a similar doorway, but to brick jambs. The short ends of these blocks are plain, and the inner faces are in 3 bays, with casements as to the front, each side of the central link. The centre range is in 7 bays, with 2 and 3-light casements to continuous sills and lintels, on one side, but with a deep stair light, and a ground-floor door to the second and sixth bays on the other. Small vents are built into the brickwork all round at mid and eaves levels. INTERIOR: Original joinery including panelled doors. The principal internal space is the central entrance lobby and hall, the latter having solid string concretemstaircases with terrazzo finish, hardwood swept handrail on steel Art Deco balustrades. HISTORY: These are the best-preserved Art Deco influenced barracks in the country, planned in a collegiate manner with the Institute placed at their head. They are also significant, for their associations with this historically important base. From 1938 new buildings and stations, including Middle Wallop and West Malling, made increasing use of concrete and flat roofs in order to respectively speed up the building process and counter the effects of shrapnel and incendiary bombs. The planning of these barracks provided a direct response to the demand for increased standards of accommodation on military airfields, including the provision of sitting rooms. These are all designs by the Air Ministry architect J.H. Binge, the marked horizontality of the elevations and Art Deco detail presenting a consciously modern style. The flat-roofed buildings around Churchill Square, planned in a collegiate
manner with the Institute (Building 40) placed at their head, are the best-preserved group of their type in the country, enhanced by the historical importance of this fighter base. (2)
In 1997 the H-block barracks were in use as offices by a number of businesses. (3)
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