156-162, OXFORD STREET W1

TQ 2981 SE CITY OF WESTMINSTER 0XFORD STREET W1 (north side) 57/19 Nos. 156 to 162 21.8.75 (even) - II* Office corner block. 1906-08 by Belcher and Joass. Early example of steel framed structure, faced with Pentelikon marble, slate roof. Expressive ree Mannerist use of classical detail elegantly accommodating maximal glazing advantages of steel frame. 5 storeys (including ground floor and mezzanine podium), attic storey and stone dormered mansard. 4 bays wide to each front and splayed corner. Tall Doric columns articulate ground floor and mezzanine and directly support square panelled pillars that, in turn, carry coupled columns on which rest wide elliptical arches; the whole framing tripartite glazing of upper floors with "applied" central architraved openings with Mannerist cornices and broken pediments set against marble faced aprons, finished off with 3rd floor lunettes. Projecting cornice below attic storey finished off with blocking course with stone dormer rising from the centre of each bay. To be compared with same architects'former Royal Insurance offices on comer of Piccadilly and St James's and Holden's 429 Strand. Edwardian Architecture and its Origins; Alistair Service. Architectural Design; Vol. 48, Nos 5-6, 1978.

Listing NGR: TQ2927881322