Westminster Buildings Westminster Mansions With Attached Verandah

This is a block of shops with chambers above and an attached verandah, built in 1900 by G. Bolshaw and subsequently altered. It is constructed of red brick with buff terracotta dressings, wrought-iron balconies, and a slated mansard roof. The building is designed in a Free Queen Anne style, set on a corner site with a rectangular plan.

The building has three storeys plus two attic storeys, featuring 2:1:2:1 window arrangement, including a corner turret on the left side. The second and third bays are distinguished by pilasters with terracotta panels bearing Renaissance-style enrichment to the top storey, along with two-storey canted oriels and steeply-pitched Dutch gables with terracotta coping. Balconies are present on the first and second floors of the intermediate bays. A prominent, painted white, modillioned cornice runs along the building’s upper section.

The ground floor contains a wide entrance leading to the chamber staircase in the third bay, and shop fronts with large plate-glass windows in the remaining bays. The upper floors feature five-sided painted wooden oriels in the second and fourth bays, with square leaded-glass windows above. Other bays have tall, segmental-headed French windows with leaded-glass upper lights and sturdy wrought-iron railings on balconies.

The octagonal corner turret has five levels, with square-headed windows and a swept slated roof topped with wrought-iron cresting. The mansard roof is adorned with pedimented dormers featuring small-paned sash windows. The set-back upper stage includes canted bay windows behind the gables of the second and fourth bays, in addition to sash windows with glazing bars in the other bays. Prominent chimneys rise from the third and right-hand bays.

The left return side, facing Eastbank Street, features five bays in a similar style. The second and fourth bays are gabled with first-floor oriels, and a two-storey oriel is located at the left end. Three tall lateral chimneys are present.

A very prominent verandah, wrapping around the corner, has large, ornate open-work brackets supporting the columns. It includes a glazed pediment displaying the words “WESTMINSTER MANSIONS” and a single-pitched glazed roof.

The interior remains uninspected. The building forms a group with the Cannon Cinema adjoining it to the right.