National Buildings

This is an office block built between 1905 and 1909 by Harry S. Fairhurst for the National Boiler and Generator Insurance Company. It is constructed with an iron or steel frame and clad in buff and white terracotta, with some areas of red brick. The building has a large quadrilateral shape and is five storeys high, with a basement and two attic storeys, arranged over nine bays in a symmetrical design. The architectural style is eclectic.

The lower two floors feature rusticated terracotta and a modillioned cornice. The central seven bays have pilasters, with panelled brickwork on the second and third floors, terracotta with coved niches on the fourth floor, and a modillioned cornice above. The outer bays are treated as towers, banded in terracotta and topped with Baroque cupolas. The ground floor has large round-headed windows with cavetto surrounds and triple keystones, a large waggon entry to the right, and a central doorway with a banded pilastered surround rising to a semi-circular pediment containing a circular window with moulded enrichments. The first floor has segmental-headed three-light windows with enriched keyblocks. The upper floors feature three-storey canted oriels to the towers, three-light windows on the second and third floors, a plaque bearing the name “NATIONAL BUILDINGS” in the centre, two-light windows on the fourth floor featuring Ionic colonnettes, Diocletian windows on the first attic floor with triple keystones, and three-light windows on the second attic level, creating a nearly continuous expanse of glazing. The rear and interior were not inspected. The building forms a group with Arkwright House on Parsonage Gardens.