Clareville House

Clareville House

Clareville House is a four-storey building with attic and two basement levels (the sub-basement being a recent excavation), faced in stock brick with Portland stone to the ground and first floors and attic. It has dark-stained timber sash and casement windows, metal trellis-work to the Panton Street balcony, and a copper-clad roof.

The building occupies a rectangular island site enclosed by Panton Street to the south, Whitcomb and Oxenden streets to the east and west, and the narrow Whitcomb Court to the north. The ground and first floors, originally occupied by Stone's Chop House, run the full depth of the plot, while the upper floors are wrapped around a central light-well. In 2007, a new lift and stair core was built to the north, linking the outer arms of the original U-plan; the earlier stairs were removed and a new staircase inserted in the south-west part of the building.

The building's special interest chiefly resides in the street-facing elevations, which are in a stripped-down neo-Regency style. The principal facade is to Panton Street, comprising nine bays with a slightly projecting five-bay centrepiece. Canted corner bays connect to the shorter seven-bay side ranges to Oxendon Street and Whitcomb Street, the latter having a further canted bay at its north end and a short three-bay return to Whitcomb Court. The ground floor has large 16-paned windows set in deep reveals, while those on the upper floors are pairs of side-hung three-light casements within plain stone window architraves.

The five-bay centrepiece to Panton Street receives distinctive treatment: the ground-floor windows and doorways are framed by slender metal columns, and those on the first floor are tripled and set back behind a shallow canopied loggia with metal columns, balustrade and trellis-work. In the corner bays are windows (which replaced original doorways during the 2007 refurbishment) surmounted by blind architraves framing large stone urns. Further doorways occur on the side ranges (some inserted in 2007 within pre-existing openings), and a vehicle bay is positioned at the north end of the Whitcomb Street range. On the equivalent Oxendon Street side, two window bays have been removed to create a glazed entrance foyer to the offices. The fourth floor is crowned by a fluted frieze with paterae and a projecting cornice. Above this is a stone-faced attic storey with paired pilasters and a copper-clad mansard roof. The roof was re-clad and its pitch lowered in 2007.

The courtyard elevations are plain and utilitarian, with large window openings beneath concrete lintels. The side ranges have narrow terraces at fifth-floor level. The rebuilt north range is dominated on the courtyard side by a very tall glazed double lift-shaft.

The interiors have been comprehensively altered at all levels, and no internal features of interest are known to survive.