Murdoch Chambers And Pitman Chambers

Murdoch Chambers and Pitman Chambers, built in 1896-1897 by J Crouch and E Butler, are located on Corporation Street in the city centre. The buildings were partly constructed for A.R. Dean, who manufactured much of the furniture for Crouch and Butler's houses, and partly for a vegetarian restaurant. They are designed in an Arts and Crafts style, featuring purple bricks and buff terracotta with a tiled roof.

The structure consists of four storeys plus two storeys of attics, arranged in five bays with a rhythm of 1:2:1:1. The first bay has a polygonal domed attic room, while the second and third bays are beneath a broad gable adorned with a pediment and three figures. The fifth bay features a smaller gable flanked by squat attic turrets. The ground floor has arched entrances on either side of modern shop fronts.

On the first floor, there are three triplets of windows with a band of lively reliefs carved by Benjamin Creswick below, set within broad arches with large voussoir stones. To the left and right are a two-light window and a pedimented three-light window. The second floor includes a canted bay window, two segmentally-pedimented three-light windows, a broad canted bay window, and three arched windows. The third floor features sash windows and a three-light transomed window beneath a richly decorated eaves cornice. In the large gable, there are four arched windows beneath a continuous pedimented head, while the small gable has a shallow bow window. Between the gables in the roof, there are two tiers of four-light flat-headed attic windows.