Former National Westminster Bank

The Former National Westminster Bank, built around 1925, is a bank located at 86 Western Road in Brighton. The building is constructed of Portland stone and features a roof that is obscured by a parapet.

The exterior is single-storey with a three-window arrangement facing Western Road and a four-window arrangement on both Sillwood Road and Little Preston Street. The design takes advantage of its narrow site, being bordered on three sides by streets. Each side showcases a three-bay arcade supported by Doric pilasters and an entablature, which is set above an arcade of Doric pilasters and round, rusticated arches. There is also a lower, one-window bay to the south. The middle bay on each façade features a round-arched window, while the outer bays have lintels at springing level, detailed with voussoirs and a keystone, topped with a blank tympanum. The entrance on the eastern bay of Western Road is flat-arched, with a glazed tympanum and original double panelled doors. The north window on Little Preston Street is blind, and the flat-arched windows in the south bay include keystones. All windows retain their original metal glazing. The building is topped with an entablature that has a dentil and mutule cornice, and a balustraded parapet.

Inside, the bank features a full-height banking hall that includes an original panelled counter, with bracketed pilasters between the panels supporting a frieze decorated with Vitruvian scrolls and bead-and-reel ornament. There is also a dwarf wall at the corner with Sillwood Street.