A Warehouse, Metropolitan Wharf

Metropolitan Wharf is a warehouse built around 1870, constructed from stock brick. It features five bays and was originally four storeys high, topped with a heavy, moulded, bracketed cornice. Two additional storeys were added soon after its initial construction, which includes a parapet coping. The central section has a rank of glazed and panelled hatches that cut through the cornice into the new top floors. The flanking windows are topped with gauged segmental arches and have iron framed small pane glazing. The elevation facing the wharf is similar but has a deep rendered band instead of a cornice. Inside, there are timber floors supported by beams resting on cross-section iron columns with console-shaped flanges at the caps and "shoe" heads for the beams. This warehouse, along with several others in the vicinity, forms one of the most impressive groups of warehouses on the quayside, which were once common but are now rare. The architectural design includes simple yet effective features such as giant niches, pediments, and Doric columns.