Samuel Heath and Sons Head Offices

Samuel Heath and Sons Head Offices

This office building comprises three linked ranges constructed in red brick with stone dressings and slate roofs, with metal-framed windows throughout. The complex was developed over a decade, with the principal office and flanking ranges designed by David Henry Ward in 1888–1889, extended by Bateman and Bateman in 1891 and 1897.

The building runs north-west to south-east along Leopold Street. The 1888 office block forms a symmetrical five-bay range over two storeys with strong Jacobean influences. It is built in red brick laid in Flemish bond with a blue-brick plinth. The street frontage is dominated by two gables, each capped with scrolled stones and topped with stone urn finials resting on giant brick pilasters, some sections fluted. The right-hand urn on the southern gable is missing. At first-floor level within each gable sits a pair of brick double-arch Italianate windows with contrasting stone keystones, framed by brick pilasters supporting a pediment adorned with acanthus leaves and a dentilled cornice.

At ground floor, the left-hand bay contains the principal entrance, a timber door with fanlight beneath a brick semi-circular arch. Above stands an elaborate stone pediment with a central urn surrounded by acanthus leaves, open and deeply moulded, supported on stone Ionic capitals. Either side of the entrance are very slim windows with horned sash-windows. The right-hand bay features the entrance to a former carriageway, historically providing access to the rear yard (now infilled), with timber double doors under a wide three-centred arch with stone keystone, topped by a pediment containing brick acanthus detail and a stone finial. The three central bays contain a central entrance door under a flat rubbed-brick arch, flanked by paired windows with stone sills and projecting brick ogee detail. A rendered band with incised lettering between ground and first floors reads "SAMUEL HEATH & SONS". The first floor displays five symmetrically arranged windows; all windows on this original range appear to be late-20th-century replacements except the two slim lights flanking the principal entrance.

The building curves south along Leopold Street to continue with a significantly taller three-storey range, also in Flemish bond with blue-brick plinth, dating to 1889 and also designed by David Henry Ward. This substantial extension spans twelve bays, each delineated by brick pilasters. Ground-floor windows are housed under segmental brick arches with brick keystones and blue-brick sills; first-floor windows are similarly arched, while second-floor windows sit under flat arches. A brick dentilled cornice runs between ground and first floors, with a chunkier dentilled cornice at second-floor level. All windows are metal multi-pane frames.

North-west of the office block extends the three-storey 1897 range by Bateman and Bateman. This section is significantly shorter than the southern range due to Leopold Street's sloping ground. It features wider bays, each with paired windows on upper floors, delineated by brick pilasters and topped with a dentilled cornice. Ground-floor windows are multipane with opening sections, set under flat rubbed-brick arches. First-floor windows are metal casements with large glazing. A basement level contains window openings with brick infill, and a timber door near the principal office entrance provides access through to this range.

North-west of this section, the 1897 range meets a large post-war replacement block; the site continues around the corner onto Stanhope Street and Darwin Street, though this latter section is not included in the listing.

Interior

The principal entrance opens to a main reception area with a late-20th-century internal glazed screen and door, leading to the reception space beyond. The reception area and principal stair on the left-hand side date entirely to the late 20th century. The first floor contains a series of offices with a corridor running along the rear. Some late-19th-century doors and joinery survive, though most finishings and fixtures are late-20th-century.

In the late-19th-century flanking range to the south-east, the entire ground floor has been opened out, with a steel-joist structure supporting the upper floors. Upper floors serve as offices with late-20th-century partitions and a corridor overlooking Leopold Street. The second floor contains a large open-plan office space with a staircase at the southern end.

The 1897 Bateman and Bateman range to the north of the principal office block contains ground-floor offices with 20th-century glazed partitions, while the first floor holds further offices and a boardroom.