The Wolseley 157-160 Piccadilly including 1-3 Arlington Street

The Wolseley, located at 157-160 Piccadilly and including 1-3 Arlington Street, is a large bank and office block built in 1921 by Curtis Green. It features a stone-faced exterior and a slate roof in an Imperial classical style. The building has four main storeys, an attic storey, and a steep, dormered mansard roof. It is designed with three wide bays. The ground floor, which includes a mezzanine, is rusticated and supported by two plain central Doric piers that hold large semi-circular arched openings with scrolled keystones. The bronze window frames and mezzanine glazing are screened by ornate wrought-iron work. The central entrance is complemented by a secondary doorway to the right. A giant order of fluted Corinthian columns, coupled on each side of the centre, frame the vertically linked and set-back painted metal windows and aprons, supporting a deep entablature. The attic storey is plainer, featuring pilaster strips flanking three windows, and there are four dormers with pediments in the roof. The return to Arlington Street is similar but plainer, with a giant order of Doric pilasters.

Inside, the building boasts a rich and intact banking hall of unusually high quality, with a vaulted ceiling supported by Tuscan Doric columns. At the rear, a pair of side stairs leads to a gallery. The interior decoration has an Oriental scheme, featuring red lacquer columns, a U-shaped run of counters in black and gold, and a striking black and white marble pavement. The counter screens are not original, but the original light fittings remain, albeit with later attachments. The Wolseley was awarded the RIBA bronze medal in 1922.