15-22, CORNHILL EC3 (See details for further address information)

Lloyd's Bank Headquarters, located at 15-22 Cornhill and 71-77 Lombard Street, is a major commercial building constructed between 1927 and 1930. It was designed by the prominent architectural practice Sir John Burnet, Tait & Lorne, with Campbell-Jones, Sons & Smithers acting as executive architects. The building exemplifies the grandest banking architecture of the inter-war period, combining late Beaux Arts Classicism with Moderne detailing.

The building is constructed in Portland stone with granite coursing to the ground floors, metal windows, and a roof of Westmoreland slates. It rises to six storeys with two attic levels and a deep basement, occupying a tapering rectangular plan that is narrower at the west end. The plan incorporates an inner light-well, with main stairs positioned at the centre and west end, a secondary light-well behind, and additional staircases to the north and south of the east end of the light-well.

The Cornhill elevation measures 146 feet in length, while the Lombard Street elevation extends 198 feet. The north elevation to Cornhill, which formerly housed the main entrance, features an eight-bay arcaded ground floor with the endmost bays being straight-headed, the westernmost bay providing access to Pope's Head Alley. The principal entrance occupies three bays from the west, framed by flanking lanterns and a cartouche at third floor level. Grey granite faces the lower courses. Large arched windows sit above rectangular ones, the latter surmounted by a bronze entablature supported on slender Corinthian columns. A plat band at first floor level is followed by rectangular windows arranged 1-14-1. This rhythm repeats for the upper three floors, which feature a giant order of Corinthian half-columns to the centre, flanked by single projecting side bays. An entablature at sixth floor height carries lion masks on the cornice. The projecting bays flank a tall attic inscribed with "LLOYDS BANK LIMITED" in sunken Roman lettering between wreaths, with an empty inscription panel above the centre. A further attic level projects above.

The south elevation to Lombard Street is similar but not identical. It contains eleven bays at ground floor level, with an arcaded ground floor featuring recessed doors within stone surrounds set beneath coffered arches. Large arched windows sit above rectangular ones, again with a bronze entablature at mezzanine level carried on slender Corinthian columns. The entrance is marked by flanking lanterns and a cartouche at second floor level. Grey granite faces the lower courses. The westernmost and easternmost openings are straight-headed, marking the line of Pope's Head Alley (slightly realigned) and Change Alley respectively. At first floor level, between a plat band and entablature, runs a sequence of 18 sunken rectangular windows arranged 1-16-1. This rhythm repeats across the upper three floors, fronted by a giant order of Ionic pilasters. An entablature at sixth floor height carries lion masks on the cornice, with recessed attic storeys above.

The interiors represent an exceptional sequence of intact spaces reflecting the building's status as a leading bank headquarters. The large marble-lined banking hall (now used as reception) is ringed with giant Ionic columns carrying an entablature, beneath a glazed ceiling. Though the original counters have been removed, the ornate bronze side doors to north and south, executed by the Birmingham Guild, remain in place, displaying the Lloyd's Bank shield flanked by horse supporters over palms and fillets. The mezzanine floor fronts are faced in stone and embellished with carved depictions of historic coinage. At the east end, the side walls feature archaic-style reliefs depicting husbandry and agriculture. At the west end stands a Neo-Grec war memorial, altered in 1949 to include references to the Second World War. It comprises three name panels surmounted by a scallop with a statuette of Peace, flanked by bronze lanterns, with a ledge for tributes before it. Set into the floor is a low-relief bronze roundel depicting the Lloyd's black horse in mosaic, created by Gilbert Bayes. Behind the memorial rises an imperial stair ascending to the fifth floor, with bronze balustrades and marble-clad dado. Original bronze-lined lifts remain in situ, decorated in Moderne style.

The upper floors are relatively plain in many areas, with marble panelling surrounding the lifts and at dado level. Four offices on the fourth floor on the Cornhill side, and two on the Lombard Street side, retain softwood panelling with doorcases bearing scrolled pediments; one on the north side retains a segmental vaulted ceiling. The fifth floor serves as the principal executive floor and, after the ground floor, is the most lavishly appointed. The stairs terminate in a split-level landing with double arches carried on paired Greek Doric columns of marble. Marble dado and surrounds frame the lift doors in the lobbies. A panelled dining room features fielded panelling in late 17th-century style with carved cornices and door surrounds. The boardroom at the east end of the Cornhill side is panelled with exotic veneers in Moderne style, with openwork over-doors, glossy black door surrounds and skirtings, and shallow plasterwork to the ceiling. Five panelled offices line the Cornhill side, with two further offices along the Lombard Street side.

A Corporation of London ceramic plaque on the Lombard Street elevation records that "In a house on this site lived Gregory de Rokesley eight times Mayor of London 1274-1281 and 1285". Additional plaques commemorate the award of the 1932 RIBA London Architecture Medal and the 1999 City Heritage Award.

Lloyd's Bank was established in Birmingham in 1765 and extended to London in 1884 through the acquisition of a subsidiary, subsequently erecting new premises on Lombard Street. The present building ranks among the most impressive commercial headquarters of its era, designed by one of the leading architectural firms of the period alongside a dedicated team of executive architects. Its imposing interiors, executed in a blend of late Beaux Arts Classicism and Moderne detailing, have been preserved largely intact. The banking hall retained its 22 counter positions until 1989. Drawings for the banking hall and Lombard Street front by Cyril Farey were exhibited at the 1927 Royal Academy.