2, Royal Exchange Buildings Ec3

No. 2 Royal Exchange Buildings is an office block built between 1907 and 1910, designed by Sir Ernest George and Yates, with carving by Albert Hodge. The building is constructed of stone and features a mansard roof made of metal with dormers. It stands four storeys tall, with an attic over a basement, and has a twelve-window range with a three-window range on the left return. To the right, there is a curved corner followed by a four-window range facing Cornhill. The left corner returns at an acute angle, while the right corner is at an oblique angle.

All ground-floor windows are round-arched, while other openings are flat-arched unless noted otherwise. The entrances are located in the fourth and tenth window ranges, featuring architraves designed as guilloche bands and overlights with decorative grilles. The ground floor and first floor have alternately rusticated blocks, with the first floor appearing as a kind of mezzanine, creating a monumental base for the upper floors.

The second and third floors in the entrance ranges have round-arched recesses flanked by attached Tuscan columns that support a raking cornice pediment. The tympanum of this pediment is adorned with garlands and a cartouche in very high relief, and there is a second-floor balcony in the recess supported by broad acanthus brackets. The remaining window ranges on the upper floors are grouped together under a two-storey architrave decorated with panels, scrolls, and armorial shields featuring anchors, shields, and portcullises.

The curved corner range facing Cornhill has rusticated blocks and a shield, repeating the bay system described earlier, and includes one entrance. The elevation facing Royal Exchange Avenue is identical, except for the centre range of the second and third floors, which features a two-storey aedicule with superposed Tuscan and Composite attached columns. The roof has tripartite dormers on the southern half, and the basement windows are grilles, with the centre formed by four clasped hands. The building's elevations have a strong sculptural presence that stands out against the bold, overscaled motifs of the Royal Exchange.