The Promenade

The Promenade, Golders Green Road

A curving terrace of shops with flats above, built in 1909 by architects Herbert A. Welch (1884–1953) and T. Clifford Hollis. The building forms a notable parade in English Renaissance style, constructed in red brick with stone and timber dressings, a tiled roof, copper-sheathed finials and dome, cast iron railings, and granite pilasters between shop fronts. The structure rises three storeys and stretches across numbers 25–103 Golders Green Road.

The terrace is divided into three main architectural sections, each responding differently to the street line. The first section (Nos. 25–45) projects forward to the street; the middle section (Nos. 47–73) recesses behind cast iron railings; and the third section (Nos. 75–103) aligns with the street line.

The south-eastern end at No. 25 establishes the composition with banded rustication to quoins, a cartouche at second-floor level, an eaves cornice with balustraded parapet, and a prominent chimneystack bearing the date 1909. Above rises a domed roof on a square podium with diagonally set paired columns at the corners. From this point to No. 47, the terraces comprise three-bay fronts punctuated with keystones and projecting gabled fronts. Nos. 31 and 37 feature oriel windows with stone quoins, stone fronts to the oriels, and festoon decoration to the gables. No. 43 displays a shouldered gable with a round window at the centre within a three-bay front with central bay set within a golden stone surround. No. 45 has twin painted oriels topped with conical lead roofs and an hourglass motif to the window within a shaped gable, paired with tall stacks and a canted angle bay to the right.

From No. 47 to No. 73, the terrace recesses behind a parapet with cast iron railings and a walkway. First-floor fronts alternate between canted bays with panelled and part-glazed front doors. Second-floor windows are 6/6-pane sashes arranged in three bays per house, with a modillion cornice and dormer windows set into mansard roofs. A wooden sign reading "The PROMENADE" is affixed to No. 47. A doorway between Nos. 57 and 59 leads to a tile-lined staircase.

From No. 75 onwards, the terrace aligns with the street line. No. 75 retains its original shopfront and features a projecting single-bay tower to the left with brick quoins and an upswept tiled roof. Nos. 77, 85, 91, and 99 are pedimented and slightly projecting with shallow canted fronts; intermediate houses are slightly recessed with three-bay fronts and shallow segmental pediments at eaves level. An archway of yellow stone between Nos. 87 and 89 leads to a terrazzo staircase to the upper level. The endmost house, No. 103, has a canted corner with a gable end to the return, flanked by tall chimneystacks, the right-hand stack featuring a canted, tile-hung oriel window over the doorway with a thermal window above.

Most windows throughout are 6/6-pane sashes. All shop fronts have been altered or hidden, apart from that at No. 75, which retains its original dividing pilasters of grey granite with scrolled consoles above.

The Promenade was designed in a richly detailed English Renaissance style drawing on Queen Anne sources. The architects had worked in the office of Parker and Unwin, designers of Hampstead Garden Suburb, and were influenced by the latter's designs for comparable blocks on Finchley Road. The building represents a key part of the heart of Golders Green. Ground floors are now largely much altered, and the interiors have not been inspected for listing purposes.