7-9, WATERLOO PLACE SW1 (See details for further address information)

This is a large, symmetrical block of offices and banks, constructed between 1901 and the mid-1920s, likely designed by Arthur E. Thompson. The building is constructed of Portland stone with slate roofs. It is an Edwardian Baroque interpretation of the Palladian style, designed to echo Nash’s original plan for the northeastern section of Waterloo Place, replacing an earlier arrangement on what was intended to be a grand ceremonial route.

The building occupies three main storeys, with attic storeys and a mansard roof, and incorporates basements. Numbers 7 to 9 form a terminal pavilion, visually balancing numbers 11 and 12 opposite, and rise above the rest of the building, with detailing that is similar but not continuous. The main west elevation is nine bays wide, arranged in a 2:5:2 arrangement, with the central five bays projecting forward. The ground floor features a channelled rusticated podium, with elaborate porches in the outermost bays of the advanced central section. These porches have architraves flanked by Doric piers ornamented with draped ram's heads supporting a stepped entablature. Above the porches is an oeil-de-boeuf window with an arched cornice, garland, reversed volutes and clusters of fruit. Recessed, semicircular arched windows are set within the ground floor podium, above which, the advanced bays incorporate a giant Corinthian order framing the first-floor Ionic aediculed windows (blind balustraded aprons and pulvinated friezes) and the second-floor windows beneath the main entablature. The attic storey is articulated with piers featuring lion-heads, pendants and swags, and culminates in a pediment with a cartouche framed in palm branches within the tympanum. The flanking wings suggest a giant order.

The Waterloo Place elevation of number 6 Pall Mall is set back, aligning with the widening of Waterloo Place, spanning thirteen bays, arranged 4:5:4, with the central section advanced. A central porch features Ionic columns, dosserets and an open pediment with an elaborate trophy. Fenestration is generally similar to numbers 7-9, with a giant engaged Corinthian order to the first and second floors. The advanced bays incorporate a giant Composite order framing a two-storey attic. Balustraded parapets form the top of the building. Some chimney stacks feature sunken panels and cornice capping. Stone balustraded areas are present.

The Pall Mall frontage, seven bays wide, echoes these details, featuring a two-storey Composite attic order over the advanced central three bays, an Ionic columned, pedimented and be-trophied porch, and a secondary entrance framed by Doric quarter pilasters with a dentil cornice and lunette, mirroring the ground floor windows. The Charles II Street elevations are simpler, using pilasters to suggest the architectural orders, primarily in the symmetrical entrance bays. Numbers 28 and 29 frame the entrance to Waterloo Place.