2 And 4, Paul Street Ec2

Former furniture showroom-warehouse at 2 and 4 Paul Street, dated to around 1860, possibly built for the firm Moore and Hunton, with remodelling in 1887 and later alterations. The building is faced with stucco and stone dressings.

The structure occupies a corner site and rises to three storeys. The main elevation to Worship Street comprises 11 bays, with a 6-bay return along Paul Street. The design draws on domestic Italianate models rather than the pier-and-panel form that became typical of such buildings from the late 1870s onwards. The ground-floor frontages are defined by piers with banded rustication and large shop windows set above stall boards (indicating basement accommodation). The windows on Worship Street incorporate prism lights and ventilation grilles. The main corner entrance features granite Corinthian columns and panelled doors; a second entrance on Paul Street has similar details, with a carriage way on the Worship Street side. The upper floors have flat-headed sash windows. The first-floor windows are accompanied by paired pilasters, whilst those on the second floor have architraves with scrolled feet. The windows in the eastern half of the Worship Street façade vary slightly in width, suggesting phased construction. A ground-floor cornice, continuous sill band, and deep-bracketed eaves cornice surmounted by a balustrade with pediments complete the exterior detailing; the balustrade appears to be an original feature.

The interior has not been inspected, though later subdivisions are believed to have obscured the original plan. The building is significant as an early example of the showroom-warehouse type, pioneering a marketing method whereby furniture was arranged in dedicated showrooms, a display technique subsequently copied from West End emporia.

Moore and Hunton were established on the site by at least 1860. An insurance policy taken out by Edward Hunton in 1866 confirms that the premises was then more extensive than today, with additional buildings and timber sheds arranged around a rear yard containing saw pits. Workshops heated by stoves contained at least 26 makers' benches, together with dedicated packing areas. The showroom building itself was originally double its present size and extended further along Paul Street. Following Edward Hunton's death, the building was refurbished in 1884, at which point it contained spacious basement and ground-floor showrooms displaying drawing-room furniture. The staircase and landing to the upper floors also functioned as display space for overmantels and looking glasses. Packing yards, finishing rooms, polishing shops and warehouses containing frames and goods in the white were also present.

Further, more extensive alterations followed in 1887 under new management. Externally, the names of various overseas cities were painted in the first-floor windows in gold letters, reflecting the centres of the firm's important colonial business. Internally, the showrooms were reworked as furnished rooms in imitation of West End furniture emporiums, allowing retailers to bring clients to view complete finished furnishings, "even to the books on the table". Moore and Hunton claimed to be pioneers of this approach in the East End.

The firm had left the building by 1899, after which it was subdivided. By around 1915, the interior comprised well-appointed offices throughout—the finest with mahogany doors and teak partitions—with a granite floor on the ground storey. Tenants included the Home and Colonial Stores Ltd, present until the 1920s. Inter-war uses included a radio warehouse on the ground floor and an upholstery and trimmings factory on the upper floors. The northern half of the site (Nos. 6-8 Paul Street) was redeveloped in the 1960s, and the rear warehouses and workshops were probably cleared for a large late-20th-century office development at the corner of Worship Street and Clifton Street. Nos. 2-4 Paul Street have been refurbished, with the ground floor converted to a bar.

The building is of architectural importance for its richly detailed Italianate elevations and holds special historic interest as one of the earliest surviving showroom-warehouses in South Shoreditch, an area that served as the hub of the international furniture trade from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The area manufactured, sold and supplied furniture of all types and qualities to retailers in the West End, provincial cities and throughout the British Empire.