The Counting House

The Counting House is a warehouse and office building, now used for offices, shops, and flats. It was built in 1887 by Henry Stock of Snooke & Stock and underwent restoration and interior rebuilding in the 20th century. The building is constructed of yellow brick and features a brick cornice and parapet with a pediment over the central bay. There is a 20th-century parapeted attic extension.

The structure has six storeys, with the former ground and first floors combined into one tall storey at street level, which contains a walkway. The facade consists of 15 bays, with a central bay that slightly projects and is accented with brick quoins. The end bays also project and feature quoins and rusticated brickwork that forms voussoirs above the round windows on the fifth floor. A central doorway, which is two floors high, is located in a projecting rusticated section with voussoirs and a stone key. The ground and first-floor openings have giant round-headed arches that are now all open. The windows on the second to fifth floors are set in colossal round-arched recesses that rest on the slightly projecting first floor; the windows on the second to fourth floors are segmental-headed, while those on the fifth floor are round-headed, all with gauged-brick arches. The end bays have narrower windows, and the four-bay returns have canted angles.

The elevation facing Counter Street features a wider pedimented central bay and a recessed, partly stuccoed central five-bay section. This building is part of the southern block of the Hay's Wharf complex, which was previously connected to buildings north of Counter Street by four-storey bridges. By the end of the 19th century, the proprietors of Hay's Wharf controlled most of the river frontage between London and Tower Bridges, as well as much of the land behind. The interior has not been inspected. The Counting House is part of the same complex as Hay's Galleria and has group value with Nos 47 and 49 Tooley Street.