Blemann House And Attached Railings Kings House

Blemann House and the attached railings are a warehouse, later converted to offices, built in two phases between 1861 and 1870. The building on the corner of Wellington Street and King Street was designed by George Corson for William Ledgard. It is located near the railway stations built on the south side of the city between 1846 and 1856. No. 54 Wellington Street was added in 1870.

The building is constructed of ashlar to the basement, with a rusticated first floor, and red brick with polychrome brick and stone detailing, all topped with a slate roof. It is in the Venetian style and occupies a corner site. The building is four storeys high over a basement, with fourteen windows on the first floor of Wellington Street and eight windows on King Street. A three-window, slightly projecting corner block fronts onto King Street.

The entrance on the left side (No. 54) features flanking columns with foliate capitals supporting a rusticated round arch with roll moulding and a deep cornice, which runs continuously around the building. There are arched windows, and what may be an inserted doorway in the centre. The corner entrance, far right, has a column and pilasters topped with a cornice; this section has been rebuilt. The upper floors have flat, segmental, and round arched windows with four-pane sashes. Paired windows on the third floor have baluster shafts and a circular opening within an arcade of polychrome brickwork. Decorative zigzag brickwork and plain ashlar bands are located between the first and second floors. A deep eaves cornice with modillion detailing completes the building.

The right return features a central arched entrance mirroring the main front. The fenestration and decoration are similar, however the third floor has sash windows. To the left is a square, one-stage tower with three narrow round-headed lights, a bracketed eaves cornice, a pyramid roof and a banded chimney. A stepped stack with a bracketed cornice sits straddling the roof ridge, centrally.

The interior was not inspected during the listing process.

Basement railings consist of a stone wall with geometric openwork panels between standards, each topped with pointed finials.

George Corson took over his brother’s architectural practice in 1860, and this building is one of his earliest designs; his later work includes the Grand Theatre, Municipal Buildings, and School Board Offices.