Britannia House

Britannia House is a commercial building designed in 1912 by Arthur Usher of Yetts, Sturdy and Usher for the London (Chatham and Dover Railway Company). It is constructed of Portland stone and features copper flashings and decorative elements on its Mansard roof made of Westmorland slate. The building has a rectangular plan with a facade facing Old Bailey and is designed in the Edwardian Baroque style with French influences.

The structure stands four storeys high with attics and has a five-window range. The entrance features a broken pediment and is adorned with reclining figures representing rail travel and sea travel, reminiscent of the work of F W Pomeroy. The entrance is flanked by festooned brackets with lion mask stops and is set within a square-headed, cavetto-moulded rusticated architrave that includes a keyblock. The ground floor windows are separated from the upper floors by a plain entablature and are flanked by rusticated piers and pilasters.

The upper floors, which have rusticated quoining, feature transomed casements set in festooned square-headed architraves. The first-floor windows have label moulds, while the second-floor windows are pedimented and supported by festooned brackets. The third-floor windows are ovolo-moulded and segmental-arched, alternating with elaborate cartouches featuring grotesque heads. The attic storey has segmental-arched windows above a modillioned cornice. The Mansard roof includes copper ornamentation on semi-circular dormer windows above corniced square-headed dormer windows. The side walls consist of two similar bays. The interior was remodelled in the later 20th century, and the range to the rear is not of special architectural or historic interest.