356-359, STRAND WC2

Nos 356 to 359 on the Strand, built around 1830-32, form a symmetrical terrace of houses with shops, part of the West Strand Improvements planned by John Nash and likely executed by William Herbert. The buildings are constructed of stucco with slate roofs and feature Graeco-Roman architectural elements. They rise three storeys with an attic storey and dormered mansards. The central pair of houses, Nos 356 and 359, each have three windows, with both treated as terminal pavilions. No 359 has a four-window return to Burleigh Street. The ground floor shop fronts were altered in the mid-20th century.

The central houses feature architraved glazing bar sash windows on the first and second floors, with a full-length window on the first floor and a modillion cornice above the second floor. The attic storey has architraved sashes, finished with a cornice and blocking course. The terminal pavilions have architraved tripartite windows with stucco dividers, and the first-floor windows are pedimented. The main cornice and attic cornice are broken forward over No 359 and returned, while No 356 features a giant Corinthian pilaster order framing the first and second floors, supporting an entablature. Similar details appear on the return front of No 359, where the first and second-floor windows of the corner pavilion are set in a through-storey panel.