Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland building is a bank and insurance company premises dating to 1909, with alterations made in the 20th century. Designed by Perkin and Bulmer, it incorporates distinctive white, matt-glazed faience cladding, known as ‘Marmo,’ manufactured by the Leeds Fireclay Company at Burmantofts. The building has a slate roof and features cast-iron balconies and fittings. It is three storeys high on the left side, and four storeys with an attic on the right. The main facade is four bays, with curved corner bays, and five bays to the returns facing South Parade (north) and Bedford Street (south). The ground floor is rusticated, with pilasters rising to a deep third-floor cornice on the left and a pedimented parapet on the right. Tall, segmental-arched doorways and windows are present on the ground floor, while flat-arched windows diminish in depth on the upper storeys. Decorative elements include first-floor balconies, moulded plaques depicting figures below the second-floor windows, and oval plaques with female figures representing Commerce, Wisdom, and the symbol of the Fire and Life Insurance Company. A second-floor entablature features gold raised lettering: ‘ANNO/ SCOTTISH UNION & NATIONAL/1824/ INSURANCE COMPANY OFFICES,’ repeated on the right return. The right-hand block (No. 26) includes a third-story with a parapet, a round corner turret with a domed roof and finial, dormer windows, and a corniced stack. Original features include square-section drain pipes and small-pane windows, with ironwork details painted green. The 'Marmo' cladding was developed as a washable walling material imitating marble and was resistant to erosion, used in ornate shops and offices before World War I and later in plainer cinemas. The building represents an early example of this construction style, appearing before the 1908 building in York. Records from the RCHME archive document the manufacturers and craftsmen involved in the building, including Thewlis and Co (sculpture) and T Pape and Co (stained glass).