Alexandra Hotel

The Alexandra Hotel, dated 1902, was likely designed by Austin and Paley in a Northern Renaissance style. It is constructed of sandstone ashlar with slate roofs and prominent chimney stacks, arranged in a deep L-shaped plan at the corner of Penny Street and Thurnham Street. The facade to Penny Street has three storeys and eight bays, while the Thurnham Street facade is symmetrical with five bays.

Horizontal bands are present above the plinth and between the ground and first floors, with a sill band and cornice on the first floor. A band of red sandstone runs continuously around the building, elevated with two flush bands. All windows have segmental heads. The Thurnham Street facade features a wide, slightly projecting central bay with a two-storey canted bay window. The three lights of this bay have rusticated segmental lintels. Above is a tall Dutch gable flanked by octagonal turrets, containing a pair of windows set between pilasters and beneath a segmental cornice. Flanking the central section are lower three-storey bays; the bay to the left incorporates an entrance under a canopy displaying “ALEXANDRA HOTEL” in stained glass and canted bays set back. A mullioned and transomed window with a stone balcony is situated on the first floor, beneath a low strapwork gable.

The Penny Street facade culminates in a tall gabled bay mirroring the one on Thurnham Street, featuring a canopied doorway on the ground floor and two narrow windows. On the far left, the facade presents altered shop fronts on the ground floor, with a centrally-placed canted oriel above. The central two bays contain a ground-floor doorway leading to the Alexandra Hall and a window, topped by two pairs of transomed windows under arched hoodmoulds on the first floor, and two pairs of windows on the second floor.

The interior Alexandra Hall has seven bays, defined by semi-octagonal pilasters, free Corinthian capitals, and an apse at the east end. The ceiling follows a barrel-vaulted design, supported by ribs with heavily moulded plasterwork.