27 and 28 King Street

Nos. 27 and 28 King Street are office buildings located in the City of Westminster. Number 27 dates from the 18th century and was altered in the early 19th century. It was refronted by Charles Mayhew between 1853 and 1854 and again in 1856. Number 28 was rebuilt to match Number 27 from 1856 to 1858 by Thomas Little, both for the Westminster Fire Office. The buildings are faced with stucco and have a slate roof, featuring neo-classical elements combined with Italianate details.

They stand four storeys high with a basement and have five windows across the front, arranged in three and two bays that reflect their different construction phases. The ground floor has mid-20th century display windows and doorways, which are sheltered by a Roman Doric colonnade with five alternating narrow and wide bays. Above this, a richly decorated cast iron balcony with scrolled rinceaux and finials sits atop the entablature.

The first and second floors are channelled, with recessed casement windows framed by architraves and topped with entablatures; the friezes of the first-floor windows are pulvinated. The third floor features square architraved windows with consoled sills, separated by panels. Notably, the central window in the left group of three on the second floor has been replaced by a large, boldly modelled cartouche of arms, which includes the Prince of Wales feathers above a wreathed portcullis.

The second-floor sill bands are inscribed with "Westminster Fire Offices," and there is a deeply moulded frieze with large, ornamented consoles rising from the third-floor panels to the projecting cornice. The second floor also has cast iron window guards, and the area railings are of a geometric pattern. Inside, the first-floor boardroom retains fine late classical features and was redecorated by Professor Sir Albert Richardson.

Additionally, there are a pair of wall-mounted Windsor gas lanterns at the north and south entrances to the Lazenby Court passage, with the southern lantern being an early model, likely from before 1910.