The Nan Tait Centre is a Grade II listed building located on Abbey Road in the Hindpool

Hindpool

Hindpool is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is bordered by Barrow Island, Central Barrow, Ormsgill, Parkside and the Walney Channel, the local population stood at 5,515 in 2001. The ward covers the entire western half of the town centre and includes Barrow's...

 area of Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

, Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, England. Designed by architects Woodhouse and Willoughby it was built for the Barrow Corporation as the town's new Technical School. The foundation stone was laid on 26 May 1900 and the school was officially opened three years later on 25 August 1903. The Technical School narrowly escaped Luftwaffe bombing

Barrow Blitz

The Barrow Blitz is the name given to the Luftwaffe bombings of Barrow-in-Furness, England during World War II. It took place primarily during April and May 1941, although the earliest Luftwaffe bombing occurred in September 1940.-Prelude:...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, although its close neighbour Christ Church was almost completely destroyed in April 1941. In 1970 the technical school was replaced by Thorncliffe School in Hawcoat

Hawcoat

Hawcoat is a ward of the UK town Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, North West England.The ward is one of the few places in Barrow that has been permanently inhabited since the middle ages; Hawcoat was named and identified as Hietun in the Domesday Book. It is the most northerly ward in Barrow and in 2001...

 and as a result was neglected falling into a near dilapidated state, despite this the building was ultimately redeveloped in the early 2000's at a cost of £4 million and was named in honour of Agnes "Nan" Tait (Mayor of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness (borough)

Barrow-in-Furness is a local government district with borough status in Cumbria, England. It is named after its main town, Barrow-in-Furness. Other settlements include Dalton-in-Furness, Roose and Askam-in-Furness. It is the smallest borough in the county, but is the most densely populated, with...

 from 1959 to 1960). The Nan Tait centre is now multifunctional serving as a cultural, exhibition and arts centre

Arts centre

An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...

 as well as a general office building. The Barracudas carnival band, Dare Dance, Capita Symonds

Capita Symonds

Capita Symonds is part of the Capita Group.Capita Symonds is a large UK multidisciplinary consultancy operating in the building design, civil engineering, environment, management and transport sectors....

, Barrow Borough Sports Council and Barrow Register Office

Register office

A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...

 are all tennants of the centre.

Architecture

The majority of the Nan Tait Centre is two storey, with the exception of the centrally located domed

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

 four storey tower. The building is red brick and terracotta with a slate roof and is noted for its two large east-facing engravings; one panel depicts six robed females underneath the moto 'Ars Longa Vita Brevis

Ars longa, vita brevis

Ars longa, vita brevis are the first two lines of a Latin translation of an aphorism by Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The words are commonly translated in English as art is long, life is short. The full text in Latin is:...

', whilst the other bears the moto 'Labor omnia vincit

Labor omnia vincit

Labor omnia vincit is a Latin phrase meaning "Hard work conquers all". The phrase appears in Virgil's Georgics, Book I, in the form Labor omnia uicit improbus...

' as well as numerous technology-related scenes. Two large gable ends also face onto Bath Street and the centre's car park.