23 Mercer Street

This is a late 19th-century former warehouse, now a house, which was restored and partially remodelled between 1983 and 1985 by the Terry Farrell Partnership as part of the Comyn Ching Triangle regeneration project. The building originally occupied a single bay plot and was remodelled as a four-storey and basement, three-bay house.

The exterior is constructed of yellow stock brick with red brick dressings, with a timber facade at ground floor level. The design retains the industrial character of the original warehouse, reflected in the scale and arrangement of openings and fittings. The front facade is symmetrically arranged and gabled to the road. The ground floor features a central pair of panelled doors flanked by tall fixed glazed lights above a panelled dado, with small fixed panes above. Number plates are positioned above each side light. The first floor incorporates full-height glazed loading doors flanked by windows with plain glazed lights, set beneath a slightly moulded storey band. The original upper floor appears to be subdivided, maintaining a similar arrangement of glazed loading doors and flanking windows, with the upper series set within arched heads. Hinged loading platforms are positioned in front of each door, and a gantry is attached to the upper floor. A brick corbel table is located beneath the lower set of flanking windows.

The rear of the house features three symmetrical bays with predominantly six-over-six pane segmental arched sash windows, which decrease in size on the upper floors. A full-height door with small-paned leaves leads to a steel balcony displaying the reversed CC insignia for Ching Court. The area is enclosed by a tubular steel rail atop a moulded masonry parapet wall. A Rococo-style timber seat is built into the wall, overlooking and serving the public area of Ching Court. The railings incorporate panels with the reversed CC insignia for Ching Court, and planters added by Farrell are set on the wall. A pair of cherry trees flank the seat, emphasising the oriental character of aspects of the Court.

The rear parapet walls, railings, and seat are not drawn to scale on existing maps. The interior has not been inspected.