Survey Data
Reg No
50920053
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
American Shoe Company
Original Use
Shop/retail outlet
In Use As
Bank/financial institution
Date
1890 - 1910
Coordinates
315900, 233707
Date Recorded
22/09/2015
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Corner-sited attached multiple-bay three-storey with attic accommodation commercial building, built 1900, with recent double-height limestone-clad shopfronts to north and east elevations. Now in use as bank and offices. Pie-ended copper-clad roof set behind series of raised gablets, alternating triangular and curvilinear, having elaborate limestone ashlar coping and ball finials. Possibly replacement hoppers and downpipes break through either side of gables. Machine-made red brick walls laid in Flemish bond with extensive limestone ashlar dressings. Square-headed window openings with decorative limestone lintels topped with moulded stringcourse, continuous moulded limestone sill courses and replacement aluminium windows. Attic window openings framed by fluted limestone pilasters supporting open-top pediments. First and second floor windows flanked by double-height brick piers supporting limestone entablature and crown cornice. Double-height shopfront spanning both elevations, inserted c. 1990 with glazed panels to both levels and limestone cladding, fascia and cornice. Located on corner site at junction between Grafton Street and south side of Harry Street.
Appraisal
A prominent purpose-built commercial building in the Jacobean Revival style, built to a design by Dublin architect L. A. McDonnell, occupying a corner site with a conspicuous gabled roofline. While the loss of the original windows and shopfront detracts from the overall appearance, the façade retains much original fabric. One of a group of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century gabled red brick commercial buildings clustered around the junction with Harry Street, it adds architectural variety to surrounding area and makes a significant contribution to the character of the streetscape.