Imperial Buildings

This is an office building with shops on the ground floor, constructed in 1901. It has undergone alterations in the mid and late 20th century. The building is primarily brick with ashlar stone dressings; the roof is not visible. It features a first-floor band and string course, with a main cornice that has breaks, and a pierced balustrade topped with moulded coping. The building is three storeys high, with a seven-window range and three bays. Most windows are composite sashes, with plain lower sashes and upper sashes containing glazing bars. The central bay has pilasters rising through the cornice, topped with pedestals and ball finials, and incorporates a canted stone oriel window with three sashes. Above the oriel is a tripartite sash flanked by brick pilasters, fronted by a small canted balcony with floral panels. A plain parapet above the tripartite sash displays a tablet inscribed "Imperial Buildings" and is topped with a coped pediment dated 1901. The side bays feature similar flanking pilasters, and each floor contains a tripartite sash. Between the floors are aprons decorated with floral panels. The ground floor has three shop fronts dating from the mid and late 20th century, set within an original granite-faced plinth and pilasters with enriched capitals. Fluted curved brackets, topped with pediments, carry a continuous cornice with a central break. The cornice and brackets are painted.