The Temple

The Temple is an office building constructed between 1864 and 1865 by J. A. Picton & Son. It is built of stone with a grey granite basement and features a lead roof. The building has three storeys, a basement, and an attic, comprising seven bays with a curved bay at the corner of Princess Street. The central bay projects forward. The basement is rusticated and has projecting 20th-century shop fronts.

On the ground floor, there is an attached Tuscan colonnade with a panelled frieze and cornice, leading to a central round-arched rusticated entrance. A door is cut into the last bay. The first floor features round-arched windows set in aedicules, with pilasters that have carved panels. The second floor has a sill band, with windows that have flat pilasters, entablatures, and strapwork cresting. The mansard roof includes dormers with shell hoods.

The entrance bay has a rusticated first floor with a segmental-headed window surmounted by arms, while the second floor features a round-arched window flanked by paired flat Ionic pilasters. The tower consists of a lower stage with recessed curved corners and an upper octagonal stage, which has round-headed lights with keystones, topped with a lead cupola and finials.