Built as the Denbighshire Technical College in 1950-53 to the designs of Saxon, Smith & Partners of Chester with R R Jennings & Partners as the consulting engineers, and Holland, Hanner & Cubitt as the contractors. In 1956 the architects were awarded the RIBA architectural bronze medal in the Liverpool Architectural Society's area for this building, and at the time it was said to include many new features in its planning and engineering with attention drawn to its planning, heating, lighting and acoustics.

It is constructed of welsh, sand-faced brick with artificial stone dressings over a concrete frame, and with steel frames to the assembly hall, gymnasium, workshops and tower. It has flat (concrete) and and low pitched roofs. The design set out to clearly separate and articulate different areas, especially with a view to noise limitation, and so divided teaching and administration areas as well as providing areas for the building department, gynasium and music department in seperate blocks.

The building encloses three sides of a courtyard, with the separate blocks outside the main area. The entrance is towards the east of the building, in a long, advanced, two-storey wing of rusticated brickwork. Alongside, but to a lower height, is the projecting block of the main lecture theatre and former exhibition hall. this block has a shallow curve to its southern elevation which is decorated with low relief panels of Portland Stone, designed by Darsie Rawlins and representing the crafts. Running at right angles to the entrance range, to the east, is the William Aston Hall with lower ancilliary blocks containing green room, dressing room etc....to the east and low reliefs by Darsie Rawlins depicting music and the dramatic arts on its blind side. The rear range continues the line of the entrance hall, and originally contained student common rooms with offices and a library to the first floor. The refrectory and canteen were in a short wing running west of this range, and the gymnasium and music blocks were set to the north-east linked to the main block by a covered way. The main teaching block was in the long south-west wing with rooms opening off a central corridor on each floor, terminating in a clock tower off-set over a subsidiary entrance and stair-hall. North of this is the science wing with a single storeyed laboratory block to the west.

THe building is characterised by continous bands of windows on each floor with simple projections of concrete cornices thrown forward as canopies over entrances. There are glass-brick lights to the stairs and forming side and overlights to the doorways.

The interior has decorative finishes confined to the entrance hall which has tiled walls with styalised dragons, leeks and abstract views of the Welsh countryside, designed by Peggy Angus. THe William ASton Hall retains its sloping floor and adjustable seating, and walls panelled in European Ash and African Walnut which give resonance. Elsewhere they relied on the use of colour as decoration Corridors have built in locker, and suspended ceilings hid the service ducts, while the use of acoustic tiles gave resonance to other areas. The internal layout was modified in 1992 when the single storey rear range was raised in height in a similar syle (the original design allowing for such and addition).

(Source: Cadw listing description) S Fielding RCAHMW 15/06/2005