51-53, THREADNEEDLE STREET EC2 (See details for further address information)

Nos 51 to 53 Threadneedle Street, including No 9 Old Broad Street, is a Grade II* listed building constructed between 1922 and 1936 by the architects Mewes and Davis. This large Italianate classical building is made of Portland stone and is designed based on Peruzzi's Massimi Palace. It features a long, bowed elevation facing Threadneedle Street with four main storeys, a recessed attic, and a slated mansard roof.

The ground floor is distinguished by a row of Doric pilasters that separate large rectangular openings. There are projecting arched entrances at the center and in the end bays, with engaged columns; the central entrance showcases coupled columns and an arch that breaks into the entablature. The upper wall face is rusticated, while the first-floor windows are balustraded and flanked by engaged Ionic columns and a cornice. Above the main entrance is a tripartite opening flanked by paired pilasters, with a cartouche above carved with the bank's emblem.

The second-floor windows have architrave surrounds and consoles that support cornices, and the third-floor windows are framed by a slight architrave moulding that is double-crossetted at the corners, adorned with scroll ornamentation at the sides. The building is topped with a deep enriched crowning cornice. The rear elevation facing 9 Old Broad Street consists of three bays and three main storeys, featuring channelled stonework on the ground floor and a mezzanine above, with arched openings on the ground floor and a pedimented central first-floor window, all capped by a deep crowning cornice.