Imperial Buildings

This is a shop and office building with an internal shopping arcade, constructed in 1907. It is built in the Jacobean Revival style, using red brick with ashlar dressings, and has slate roofs topped by 16 ornate brick stacks.

The main, eastern front, facing the High Street, is three storeys high and has a central five-bay section flanked by curved tripartite bays; to the north, there are two bays, and to the south, one and a half bays. A central doorway leads to the offices above, featuring marble pilasters supporting brackets, a segmental arched hood, and a balustrade with finials. A tympanum above the doorway is inscribed 'IMPERIAL BUILDINGS AD 1907'. The ground floor shops, including Brooks and Brooks and Victoria Wine, retain their original Edwardian shopfronts, divided by tall marble pilasters. The floors above the shops are articulated with pairs of Doric pilasters supporting an entablature and a parapet. The first floor has tripartite windows with small pediments, while the top floor has tripartite windows with segment-headed moulded surrounds, keystones, and blind balustrades below. The final bay on each end is topped by a broken curved pediment with finials and an obelisk. The remaining frontages are two storeys high.

The west front has a central arcade entrance flanked by two shops and two further shops, all separated by marble pilasters, followed by the curved corner bays, each containing a single shop. Similarly, the north and south fronts each have two shops, an arcade entrance, and a further shop beyond. Above these fronts, tripartite windows are set within segment-headed moulded surrounds with keystones, and are articulated with pairs of Doric pilasters. The curved corners are topped with ornate gables, and the arcade entrances are crowned by pediments, all linked by an arcaded balustrade with ball finials.

The internal arcade features a glazed iron roof and shopfronts topped by curved pediments. A central wooden kiosk, also topped with curved pediments, an open arcade, and ball finials, completes the interior.