Cottage-style housing set amid green surroundings was just one of the hallmarks of a Garden Suburb in the years leading up to the First World War. Another was the possession of an Institute: a place where the residents could socialise together, entertain and also educate themselves. Liverpool Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd had planned a large, purpose-designed Institute on Queens Drive, but although the foundation stone was laid in 1914 (roughly where St Francis Xavier's School stands today) the building never materialised. Instead, this small sandstone building on Thingwall Road - converted out of a pair of cottages in 1912 for use as the Suburb's 'Temporary Club House' - is still in use today.

The Institute was the meeting-place of clubs and societies such as the Billiards Club, the Choral Society, the Horticultural Society, the Juniors Club, the Magazine Club, the Parliamentary Debating Society and the Women's Guild. It was (as it still is) the venue for concerts and plays. Henry Vivian and others gave lectures there, on the merits of Garden Suburb life. In addition the Institute was the meeting-place of the Tenants' Council. The First World War brought all civilian building work to a halt.  After the war, rent controls were introduced, which - combined with the effects of building cost inflation - made the co-partnership system increasingly uneconomic.