156-162, OXFORD STREET W1

Nos. 156 to 162 on Oxford Street is a Grade II* listed office corner block built between 1906 and 1908 by architects Belcher and Joass. This building is an early example of a steel-framed structure, faced with Pentelikon marble and topped with a slate roof. It showcases a striking Mannerist style that incorporates classical details while maximizing the glazing benefits of the steel frame.

The building stands five storeys tall, including a ground floor and mezzanine podium, as well as an attic storey with a stone dormered mansard. Each front is four bays wide, with a splayed corner. The ground floor and mezzanine are articulated by tall Doric columns that support square panelled pillars. These pillars carry coupled columns, which in turn support wide elliptical arches. This design frames the tripartite glazing of the upper floors, featuring "applied" central architraved openings adorned with Mannerist cornices and broken pediments, all set against marble-faced aprons, culminating in lunettes on the third floor.

A projecting cornice below the attic storey is finished with a blocking course, with a stone dormer rising from the centre of each bay. This building can be compared to the former Royal Insurance offices designed by the same architects at the corner of Piccadilly and St James's, as well as Holden's building at 429 Strand.