Transact House

Transact House is a shipping and packing warehouse, now offices, dating to approximately 1880-90. The building is constructed of red brick with sandstone dressings, topped by a slate roof. It occupies a trapezoidal plan on an island site and is designed in an eclectic architectural style.

The building is four storeys high with a basement and attic, presenting a nine-window facade, including curved corners. Architectural details include a stone plinth, brick pilasters, a moulded cornice to the ground floor, a moulded main cornice with a brick parapet, and pedimented attic dormers over the centres and corners. The ground floor corners are chamfered, featuring round-headed doorways and windows within pilastered surrounds, each with a keystone. Above this, curved oriels rise the full height of the building, featuring transomed 10-light windows on every floor. The ground floor incorporates a window of two round-headed lights with a pilastered surround, above which is a two-storey canted oriel with transomed 8-light windows, and a cross-window to the third floor. Other bays have mullioned and transomed windows of six lights and cross-windows. Dormers feature cross-windows, while the corner dormers have single-light windows. A five-bay return side is present in a simpler style, with brick pilasters and a central attic gable. The interior has not been inspected.

The building forms part of an uninterrupted row of similar structures along Princess Street and is included on the list for its group value.