Regent House

Regent House is a combination of offices and shops on the corner of Anlaby Road and Ferensway in Kingston upon Hull. Built in 1902 by John M Dossor of Hull, it was remodelled internally in 1935 by WR Blanchard, when the section at 183-175 Ferensway was rebuilt. The building has undergone other minor alterations throughout the 20th century.

The structure is constructed of brick, partly rendered, with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. All windows at first floor and above are leaded casements or fixed lights. The ground floor shop fronts are later 20th-century alterations that partially conceal a moulded cornice.

The design is arranged to appear as three separate properties externally, though unified by consistent architectural detailing throughout. The corner property at 28 Anlaby Road and 185 Ferensway is the most prominent element, featuring a polygonal tower rising to three storeys and flanked by single two-storey bays. The tower has an octagonal slate roof topped with an ornamental weathervane. At second floor level, three wooden cross casements with wooden Ionic columns flank the tower, while the first floor has three two-light windows also separated by Ionic columns. A deep, dentilated cornice above these windows is carried by two shaped brackets and supports a slated canopy extending from the window sills to protect the entrance below, which is itself sheltered by a larger slated canopy supported by an ornamented bracket. Octagonal brick pillars at first floor extend through the cornice to form end piers for ramped parapets above the flanking bays. The pillars are topped by small stone griffins. Behind the parapets is a mansard roof with a single roof dormer with a flat lead roof. Below the parapets runs a moulded cornice with shallow corbels; each bay has a single first floor casement window.

The property on Ferensway to the left is architecturally expressed as a separate rendered three-storey building with a gable end facing the road, although it forms part of the corner property. The first floor displays a four-light shallow canted oriel window with a dentilated cornice above, which continues the line of the corbelled cornices of the flanking properties. This cornice is slightly deeper and includes two brackets supporting the slightly jettied second floor. The second floor has a three-light window with a moulded drip mould. Above is a broken pediment supported by corbels forming the gable.

The property facing Anlaby Road at number 26 is separate at ground floor level historically and currently, though integrated into the rest of the building above. It is similarly expressed externally as a rendered three-storey building with the gable end facing the road. The first floor features continuous glazing with cross casements set back slightly from an arcade of five square-section Tuscan columns linked by ramped balustrades with stick balusters. Shallow arches span between the columns, with a bracket above each supporting a deep, moulded and dentilated cornice that carries the slightly jettied second floor. The second floor has three two-light windows beneath a continuous moulded drip mould. Above is a broken pediment supported by corbels forming the gable. A five-flue brick stack stands to the right towards the rear.

The interior detailing throughout Regent House, apart from isolated later 20th-century alterations, is consistent and considered to date to the 1935 refit and rebuild.

The external architectural exuberance and detailing of the surviving 1902 portion of Regent House represents a good example of Edwardian commercial building, designed as three distinct properties while remaining unified. Although the section at 183-175 Ferensway was rebuilt in 1935 in a much simplified style not of special national interest, its design does not unduly detract from the earlier surviving part.