4-6 Glasshouse Street, City of Westminster, London

Summary

Commercial premises, 1909, by Edward Keynes Purchase, with the ground floor façade by Reginald Blomfield for the London, County and Westminster Bank, converted to a restaurant in the 1970s.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the interiors of the second, third and fifth floors are not of special architectural or historic interest.

Description

Commercial premises, 1909, by Edward Keynes Purchase, with the ground floor façade by Reginald Blomfield for the London, County and Westminster Bank, converted to a restaurant in the 1970s.

MATERIALS: the building is faced in Portland stone and has a polished granite plinth. It has glazed brick to the rear, and a slate roof with stone chimneystacks.

PLAN: standing on the island known as Monico, the building occupies a narrow plot facing south onto Glasshouse Street and Piccadilly Circus beyond. It abuts other buildings on either side and to the rear.

EXTERIOR: the building has a symmetrical baroque principal elevation of six storeys and three bays. The ground floor has a central, multiple-pane bow window flanked by herms supporting a fascia which is covered by modern signage. There are solid double doors in the bays to either side; that to the right is original and is panelled with swag relief mouldings on the central rail. The window in the central bay on the second storey has a round-arch with timber pediment, between marginal lights. Giant rusticated pilasters frame the elevation and articulate the bays, and terminate with stocky scroll consoles with foliate cartouches supporting a second-floor balcony, with a bottle balustrade. There are full-height windows in each bay, with open pediments and tall keystones, the central one of which is tripartite and has engaged Ionic columns. Windows generally have four lights separated by mullions and transoms. Giant engaged Ionic columns articulate the bays on the third and fourth storeys, and terminate in an entablature with a pulvinated frieze and dentil cornice. The fifth storey has stout pilasters with curved bases and labels with relief pendants. A cornice separates the sixth storey, which has a shaped gable in the central bay with a tripartite window with column mullions, above which is a broken segmental pediment containing an oeil de boeuf window, from which a keystone-like projection crowns the gable. The flanking bays have windows recessed behind balconies with bottle balustrades and urn finials. There are stone chimneystacks with deep moulded cornices.

INTERIOR: the special interest of the interior is concentrated in the former banking hall, which is now a bar, and is open plan. There is painted oak dado panelling on some walls, and a bolection moulded chimneypiece. The ceiling is richly moulded, with a large sunken domed rose towards the front, and three smaller roses to the rear. Panelled doors with moulded architraves generally survive throughout.

The stair is at the front of the building and rises in a dog-leg from the basement through six storeys. It has square newels, some of which are panelled and have acorn finials and pendants, and it has shaped balusters, some of which are boxed in. The ceiled soffits have plaster detailing, and the walls have timber panelling to some of the flights.

The first floor, also a bar, has replica panelling. Moulded ceilings may survive, but were covered at the time of inspection. The second, third and fifth floors* retain few historic features and are excluded from the listing. The fourth floor, initially offices, has an incomplete scheme of plaster mouldings to the walls and ceilings, and has two cast iron chimneypieces with egg and dart and relief mouldings.

* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the interiors of the second, third and fifth floors are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

‘Architect & Building News’ reported the construction of 4-6 Glasshouse Street as one of two important West End buildings by builders Patman and Fotheringham Ltd, by the architect Edward Keynes Purchase FRIBA, in 1909.

Plans from 1908 exist for the addition of a balcony to the proposed building at the London Metropolitan Archive. Although the document does not show the entire building, what it shows appears to be as built, apart from the ground floor façade. An article in the Architects’ and Builders’ Journal in 1913 attributes the design of the lower portion of the façade to Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) who, at that time, was a most prolific and leading figure in the profession. A signed drainage plan of the basement confirms Blomfield’s involvement. Hence it appears that the building was a speculative commercial premises designed by Keynes Purchase, with Blomfield amending the plans for the ground floor on behalf of the bank, and undertaking some technical detailing.

The London County and Westminster Bank, an early predecessor of the Natwest, was formed in 1909 by a merger between the London and County Banking Company and the London and Westminster Bank. Archival material records that the bank bought the site in 1909 and the branch opened on 18 May 1910. A photograph of 1910 – presumably taken earlier than May - shows the building, but with the ground floor boarded over and a ‘to lease’ notice on the façade, presumably offering the upper storeys only. At this stage there does not appear to be any signage on the fascia. The bank’s staff magazine of July 1910 reports that 'all lovers of decorative architecture should pay a visit to our new branch at Piccadilly Circus. . . There are few handsomer buildings in London for its size, and the internal fittings and decorations should satisfy the most exacting customer. The comfort of the staff, too, has been carefully considered. The clock in the main office has already attracted much attention. It is surrounded by a gilded glory which looks as if it had been lifted bodily from some great renaissance altar piece. The magnificent marble Pavement, too, is reminiscent of a cathedral. It is undoubtedly a branch to be proud of.'

Edward Keynes Purchase FRIBA, prolific in his output of commercial buildings in Soho and Mayfair, was a keen motorist and honorary architect to the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland. He worked with Charles Mewes and Arthur Davis on the design of the Royal Automobile Club, Westminster (listed at Grade II*), and has two other listed buildings to his name, exhibiting similarities to 4-6 Glasshouse Street: 39-42 New Bond Street, Westminster and Aldine House, 66 Chandos Place, Westminster.

Reginald Blomfield undertook his architectural training under his uncle, Sir Arthur Blomfield, a highly-regarded Victorian church architect. Reginald began his own practice in 1884, and initially made his name as a country house architect, and went on to design a wide variety of commercial, educational and civic buildings, many of which are listed at the higher grades. He was the chief architect for the rebuilding of Nash’s Regent Street Quadrant during the 1910s and 20s, taking over from Richard Norman Shaw, one of his principal early influences. His comprehensive redesign for Piccadilly Circus would have necessitated the removal of the Glasshouse Street bank, but it was not adopted. In addition to Shaw, Blomfield was initially a follower of the Queen Anne Revival movement of the late C19, and evolved to adopt a 'grand manner' inspired by the English Baroque architecture of Wren and his followers; it is this style, rooted in the first decades of the C20, for which Blomfield is most renowned, though he was unrivalled in his breadth of ability, in addition to being a notable theoretician and scholar. Blomfield was made an Associate of the RIBA in 1881 and a Fellow in 1906; an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1905 and elected to the Academy in 1914, where he was Professor of Architecture from 1907 to 1911, and was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1913. He was President of the RIBA from 1912 to 1914 and received a knighthood in 1919.

Blomfield is known to have designed an earlier branch for the London County and Westminster Bank: that at 224-226 King’s Road, Chelsea, dating from 1909, as well as branches for Barclays in Chelmsford and Leeds; all are listed at Grade II.

The first floor of 4-6 Glasshouse Street has been in use as a restaurant since at least 1913. In the 1970s its use as a bank ceased, and further conversions to restaurant use were made; it is now a bar and nightclub. Modern signage has been applied to the fascia, and alterations made to the doorway canopies. Internally, fixtures related to the banking hall, such as cashiers’ counters and partitioning, have been removed, as has a stair rising within the rear of the banking hall. An opening has been created at ground floor level into the adjacent no. 4 Sherwood Street.

Reasons for Listing

4-6 Glasshouse Street, 1909, by Edward Keynes Purchase, with the ground floor façade by Reginald Blomfield, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: a highly decorative, richly moulded principal elevation exhibiting an exuberance appropriate to its location facing onto Piccadilly Circus;
* Intactness: externally very little altered and internally retaining decorative plasterwork and panelling on the ground floor;
* Historic interest: an example of an early-C20 commercial premises, combining the designs of two notable architects;
* Group value: the building makes a positive contribution to the street scene and has a strong visual relationship with a number of other listed buildings and structures.

External Links

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