This ornate red-brick building is actually an early electricity station. Based on the Strozzi Palace in Florence, it was part of Cheltenham's first electricity grid, which was created in 1895. Here 2000 volts were transferred down to 100 volts. Joseph Hall, the Borough Surveyor, built the station the year before, but the top floor with its mini arcade was added at the turn of the 20th century. The Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology has placed a plaque on the building.
