St John’s House (former Pearl Assurance Building)

St John’s House, formerly known as the Pearl Assurance Building, is an office building constructed between 1896 and 1898 by architect Alfred Waterhouse. It features a stone exterior with a granite ground floor and a slate roof. The building stands three storeys tall with attics and has five bays facing St. John's Lane, along with an octagonal corner tower and three bays facing Queen Square.

The ground floor showcases round-arched openings that have 20th-century shop fronts, while original glazing bars are visible above. A cornice features an entrance with a cusped round-arched head and a mosaic tympanum, flanked by shafts with capitals. To the left is a round-headed entrance, and to the right is a traceried round-headed window. The building has a pierced parapet adorned with pinnacles and a central traceried gable.

The first and second floors are fitted with paired sashed windows lacking glazing bars, separated by strings and carved panels. There is a corner stair window, a corbelled frieze with tracery, and a cornice above. Four dormers contain tripartite sashed windows, and there is tracery in the gables. The top stage of the tower includes windows with two round-headed lights beneath a round-headed relieving arch, which is pierced by a roundel. The panelled parapet displays the lettering "PEARL" on each face, topped with a slate spire and a lead cupola.

The end bay features a round corner turret with a moulded base that integrates into the wall. The octagonal top has a gallery with a pierced balcony and segmental arches, with windows behind, and a small spire with a lead finial. The facade facing Queen Square is similar but includes two tiers of windows in the dormers and crocketed finials above. The building also has five panelled stacks.