8-12, Horton Street

This shop and offices was built around 1903. It is constructed of ashlar stone with a roof of large green slates. The building is three to five storeys high, with a basement, and has a three-by-one bay arrangement on the left and a one-bay arrangement on the right. The architectural style is Baroque revival.

The building’s left-hand section sits on a sloping site, exposing a basement level with internal steps leading to the right-hand entrance under a segmental dripmould that also acts as the ground floor sill string. Two basement windows are located on the left, featuring small panes and keyed arches. A wide archway on the right provides access to a rear yard; its voussoirs begin directly from the jambs, and a prominent segmental dripmould extends to act as a string over both the central tripartite window and a round-headed mullion and transom window on the left. Four pilasters define the upper bays, rising from the dripstring and framing the second-floor tripartite windows on projecting sills. The second-floor windows are recessed, featuring stubby central columns and pilaster jambs. All windows have small panes of glass. A prominent eaves cornice, supported by wide modillions, supports a tall roof balustrade with block balusters between piers over the pilasters. The roof is steeply pitched and hipped at the rear.

The lower bay on the right has a centrally positioned, half-glazed panelled shop door recessed between plate glass windows with slender mullions, and a small, full-width light above. Below the cornice is a small fascia. Above the cornice is a central elliptical-headed window with triple key details rising to a segmental dripstring which rests on flanking pilasters, containing small-paned lights with bracketed sills. The front gable's peak rises from flat coping on either side. The group value of the building is enhanced by its distinctive architectural features and contribution to the streetscape. The interior has not been inspected.