Lowndes House

Lowndes House is an office building dating from the early 20th century. It is constructed of Portland stone with slate roofs and occupies a wedge-shaped site between City Road and Tabernacle Street. The building has seven storeys, with a five-window range to the corner, a six-window range to City Road, and an eight-window range to Tabernacle Street. The corner section curves in plan as far as the fifth floor. The three middle windows are stepped forward slightly on the ground floor, mezzanine, and sixth floor, but recessed in the intervening floors. A curved entablature is continued over the third floor, supported by two giant Corinthian columns with balustrading between them.

The ground floor is faced with grey polished granite with rusticated stone, although the ground-floor openings were largely replaced in the late 20th century, retaining the original keystones. The mezzanine windows have flat arches with scrolled and festooned keystones on the City Road frontage and the corner and first two bays of Tabernacle Street. The remaining six bays of Tabernacle Street are treated more simply. Above the mezzanine, banded rustication is primarily on the corner and the left-hand bay of City Road. All upper windows are flat-arched; those to City Road and the first two bays of Tabernacle Street have architraves to the first and second floors, and a panel above, flanked by fasces, to all but the north bay. An entablature and modillion cornice run along the top. The attic is decorated with fasces to the curved front, with a cornice and blocking course above. Dormers with segmental arches are located at the seventh-floor level on City Road and the first two bays on Tabernacle Street.

The corner of the building is designed as three temple fronts surmounted by a dome and lantern. The sides have flat-arched windows with keystones and festoons, topped with open pediments. The front features a round-arched window with a festooned architrave, scrolled keystone, and oculus, positioned between two pilasters supporting an open and broken pediment. The overall design of Lowndes House effectively uses its corner site.