King Edward Mansions And Sovereign House

The building comprises shops with former showrooms and offices above, and flats above the shops to the Grape Street range, constructed between 1902 and 1908. It is almost certainly the work of C Fitzroy Doll, who served as surveyor to the Bedford Estate and the local District Surveyor.

The building is constructed in brick with ornate terracotta dressings and decorations, featuring slate roofs with prominent terracotta stacks. Its angled plan consists of two intersecting ranges surrounding a central courtyard which provides access to the flats, reached under No. 210 Shaftesbury Avenue.

The exterior presents five storeys and attics, displaying a profoundly asymmetrical composition. A two-bay range angled to align with the Shaftesbury Theatre has a projecting two-storey oriel. This is followed by a thirteen-bay range along Shaftesbury Avenue. Corner bartizans feature projecting turrets, that and the adjoining bay to Grape Street exhibiting machicolations. A similar turret is located to the right of the main composition's centre, along with two three-storey oriels. These features, alongside the oriel above the entrance to the offices on the right, are mounted on substantial columns set between the shop fronts and the first-floor former showrooms, and are adorned with organic detailing on their undersides. The shops are separated by fluted Roman Doric engaged columns with a dentil cornice, above which are the first-floor former showrooms separated by engaged Ionic columns. Most shop fronts have been renewed in a sympathetic style; the one at No. 218 may be original. The first-floor showrooms, now offices, retain large plate glass windows with small-paned toplights, with little alteration. Upper-floor windows are mullion and transom casements in terracotta surrounds, incorporating notched lintels linked across the building’s face, along with numerous projecting bands, a moulded cornice and parapets. Mid-20th century attic dormers are of little note. A balcony is positioned over the entrance to the offices. The Grape Street return (King Edward Mansions) is similarly treated, but with taller stacks, featuring a broad, square bartizan on the corner, a round one in the middle and one at each end, all with machicolations. Three oriels are positioned between them, including a round one on a moulded plinth, a canted one (both with balustraded tops) and a square one that rises to the line of a heavy modillion cornice. Ground-floor shop fronts, some with cast-iron grilles, have simple mouldings and tripartite toplights. First floor former showrooms have mullion and transom casements with small top lights. Flats are accessed from a courtyard to the rear of No. 210 Shaftesbury Avenue, featuring stone access balconies on cast-iron brackets, sash windows, and part-glazed doors.

The interiors have not been inspected.

The building is included on the list primarily for the quality of its street facades, representing a particularly striking example of Doll’s work for the Bedford Estate and utilising high-quality terracotta.