Pearl Buildings Pearl Chambers

A building constructed in 1911, designed by William Bakewell for The Pearl Assurance Company Limited, situated on a corner plot at the junction of East Parade, The Headrow, and South Parade in Leeds. It is an example of Free Gothic Revival style. The building’s ground floor is constructed of polished granite with banded rustication, above which the facade is ashlar Portland stone, topped by a slate roof. The roof features five narrow stone multiflue stacks and a central octagonal ventilation turret with a dome.

The building is four storeys high with an attic, arranged with five bays to the front elevation and three bays to the right return; the left return has three bays and three storeys with two attic storeys. Elliptical arched panelled doors and overlights are set within each facade, framed by keyblocks, consoles, and carved panels. The ground floor windows are within round-arched openings with keyblocks, voussoirs, and squat Ionic half columns. On the East Parade elevation, the central and end windows project slightly; the end bays have banded pilasters and corbelled octagonal pinnacles. Bay windows and balustered balconies, supported by consoles, extend through the first, second, and third floors, culminating in high stepped and panelled gables adorned with finials. A pierced parapet and modillion cornice top the facade.

The right return echoes this design. The left return incorporates a central stone plinth bearing the inscription 'PATRICK JAMES FOLEY/ PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF/ THE/ PEARL LIFE ASSURANCE CO LIMTD/ EX MP FOR WEST GALWAY', surmounted by a statue. Flanking the plinth are tall panelled plinths featuring statues of seated griffins. Five flat-roofed and five hipped-roofed dormer windows are positioned behind. A band at the level of the first-floor sills bears the names 'PEARL ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED' (left return), '1864 PEARL CHAMBERS 1911' (main front), and 'PEARL BUILDINGS' (right return). The interior remains uninspected. The building’s design continues in harmony with the Athenaeum building on The Headrow, also by the same architect. This building is notable as the first to use Portland stone.