Survey Data
Reg No
50080578
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Hibernian Bank
Original Use
Bank/financial institution
In Use As
Restaurant
Date
1900 - 1905
Coordinates
314820, 233899
Date Recorded
04/11/2013
Date Updated
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Description
Terraced four-bay three-storey over basement and with dormer attic former bank, built 1902, having shopfront to front (south) elevation. Now in use as café. Artificial slate mansard roof having rendered chimneystacks and gabled dormer windows to front. Granite parapet with granite coping and cornice, granite coping to barges. Cut granite to walls with carved string courses. Polished granite roundels inset to wall to first floor. Yellow brick laid in English garden wall bond to east and west elevations. Segmental-headed window openings, paired to centre, having carved granite surrounds, those to first floor flanked by granite Composite columns, paired to ends of façade, polished red granite shaft to centre column. Continuous hood-moulding over and sill course to second floor windows, sill course to first floor windows. One-over-one-pane timber sash windows. Carved granite shopfront having fascia over foliate cornice. Segmental-headed openings, with carved granite surrounds, flanked by cut granite columns with polished red granite shafts to corners. Overlights and recent glazed doors. Projecting entrance bay to east of façade. Segmental-headed door opening flanked by columns with polished granite shafts, polished granite roundels to spandrels of wall above door, carved granite surround, overlight, carved foliate lintel and timber panelled door. Steel-framed ceiling lights to basement, set in granite paving slabs to footpath to front.
Appraisal
An elegant classically-composed building, constructed by the Hibernian Bank to designs prepared by William Henry Byrne, who designed several buildings for the company. Finely-carved granite dressings exhibiting high quality artisanship contribute significantly to the design while polished granite provides visual and textural contrast. The high level of architectural detail and stonework was intended to convey a sense of stability and wealth in the company in order to reassure and attract patrons, and this, coupled with its impressive scale and form, makes the building a commanding presence on the street.