Refuge House

Refuge House is a building located in Royal Leamington Spa, dating from around 1835, with later additions and alterations, including an early 20th-century ground floor and a late 20th-century banking hall and extension to the rear. The structure is made of pinkish-brown brick with a painted stucco front facade and an ashlar ground floor, topped with a Welsh slate roof and featuring a cast-iron balcony.

The exterior consists of three storeys with three first-floor windows. Tuscan pilasters run through the first and second floors at the ends and between the windows. The first floor has tall 6/6 sash windows in tooled surrounds, complete with a frieze and cornice. The second floor features 3/6 sash windows in plain reveals with moulded sills. The ground floor projects outward and has a roll-moulded plinth, with an arcade of five Ionic columns on plinths. The entrance is through the fourth arcade, which has 6-panel double doors with a fanlight that includes decorative glazing, all framed by a hollow-moulded round arch. The plate-glass windows have divided overlights, and all openings are accented with horizontal rustication and central stepped keystones. A modillion cornice runs along the top, and there is a segmental pediment over the fourth arcade featuring foliate decoration with a beehive and the inscription 'NOTHING WITHOUT LABOUR', topped by a balcony. There is also an end stack.

Inside, the building features shutters, 6-panel doors, moulded cornices, and a narrow open-well staircase leading from the first to the second floor, which has stick balusters. A service staircase is equipped with turned balusters.

Historically, the Parade was named in 1860, having originally been called Lillington Lane and renamed Union Row around 1809. The lower section was laid out between 1810 and 1814 and extended towards Dormer Place around 1835. Initially built as houses, hotels, and lodging-houses, many had transitioned to shops by 1850. The ground floor of Refuge House forms a continuous architectural unit with No. 148.