Conservation Area (CA)
No
Local Listing Reference
LLHA00259
Description
The Hollingbury Library building was originally built as the County Oak public house, opened in September 1950, to create a public house for the new Hollingbury Estate as part of the post-war reconstruction of Brighton. The building was the Hollingbury Estate's first pub and was subsequently converted to a library in 1962 after a new pub had been constructed next door. The building is an example of a prefabricated building in an unusual configuration, combining two prefabricated buildings, with hints towards an Art Deco style. Built by Whitbread as pubs were deemed essential for the new communities being built in post war estates, providing community and leisure facilities while prioritising the use of standard building materials on homes.
The pub is included on an online list of prefabricated pubs compiled by Boak & Bailey
A. Architectural, design and artistic interest
i. An innovative use of pre-fabrication on a larger scale for a public house serving a new post-war housing estate.
ii. The building represents a good quality and rare example of a prefabricated public house building built by combining two prefabricated buildings.
B. Historic and evidential interest
ii. The building’s former use reflects the physical, social and economic development of Brighton and Hove, and remains substantially as it would have done at that time. Prefabricated public houses played an important role in providing much needed community and leisure facilities in the new estates of the post war era.
C. Townscape interest
ii.The building is located outside a conservation area, but the style of the pre-fabricated building is considered to make a positive contribution to the street scene.
D. Communal value (non-compulsory)
i. As a former public house and now library building it represents source of local identity and/or distinctiveness for the new post-war community.
E. Rarity and representativeness
i, ii. The building appears to be a rare, possibly unique example, of a pre-fabricated building which was constructed for use as a public house, certainly in Brighton & Hove. Although a number of pubs were set up in prefabricated buildings throughout the country not many continue to exist and most appear to have been in re-purposed buildings rather than purpose built.
F. Intactness
i. Appears to generally retain its original external form despite having been converted to a library.
Date of Inclusion
2023
