7 And 8, Waterloo Street

Numbers 7 and 8 Waterloo Street are a commercial office building constructed between 1931 and 1933 by S.N. Cooke and E. Holman for the Legal and General Assurance Society. The building is of steel frame construction with a Portland stone ashlar facade.

The layout consists of a large banking hall on the left with a public entrance fronting the street, and a small courtyard to the right providing access to offices above. The design is in the Moderne style, incorporating stylized classical and Egyptian elements.

The north front is five bays wide, with five stories and an attic. The ground floor is tall, topped by a cornice, and features an Egyptian-style portico at the center, with a coved cornice, a roundel displaying an emblem, bronze double doors, and two large, plain windows with metal frames and margin glazing bars. Above the doorway, the inscription "LEGAL & GENERAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY LIMITED" is carved in large, serifed letters. The four stories above feature pronounced piers between the windows, surmounted by stylized urns on the parapet. Small, stylized rosettes appear above the first and second-floor windows. A banded frieze runs along the building at fourth-floor level. The west side mirrors the north side, but lacks the central doorway. The attic storey is simpler and set back behind the parapet. Metal frame windows with glazing bars are a consistent feature. An office entrance is situated to the right, accessed through a small courtyard. Two bays rise above the parapet level to form a tower, with a doorway and inscription above, and panelled double doors at its base. A lead drainpipe with decorative brackets and a hopper is recessed in the corner. Iron railings and Portland stone piers surround the courtyard.

The interior entrance hall to the offices is lined with limestone (travertine) and onyx, featuring clustered shafts to the pilasters, a black band, and a coffered ceiling. The banking hall has broad fluting to the limestone window piers, and fluting to the frieze of the coffered ceiling.