The South Eastern Electricity Board

The building, originally a hotel and dwellings and later used as offices, was constructed between 1871 and 1874, with restoration work in 1981 and a later addition. It was designed by James Knowles, built by J.T.Chappell, and extended by Fitzroy Robinson Miller Bourne & Partners for the South Eastern Electricity Board.

The building is constructed of yellow stock brick with quoins and has asbestos slate roofs with pyramid roofs to corner towers. It features overhanging eaves with a moulded cornice and tall brick stacks with moulded caps, all in an Italianate style.

The building has an L-shaped configuration facing south. The south front consists of a seven-storey tower to the left, a six-storey section to the right, and a five-storey central block, arranged in a 3:15:3 bay pattern. A small pediment with a heraldic achievement sits above the central, slightly projecting, three bays. The windows are largely 20th-century plastic sash windows without glazing bars, although the upper stage of the tower has round-headed windows. The three lowest storeys have canted bays; segmental heads are visible on the ground floor and second-floor windows. Continuous metal balconies are supported by shaped brackets on the first and second floors. A former entrance, now disused, is located in the ninth bay from the right with a panelled door. The west return has 3:3:3 bays and a six-story tower, with similar fenestration to the main front, except for tripartite windows in the central bay. A 20th-century addition abuts this return, and the current entrance is within it.

Initially, the building housed Mr Prince’s Hotel in the western portion, with the original entrance located on the site of the present South Eastern Electricity Board entrance. The remainder was used for dwellings and a club. David Reuben Sassoon resided at No.7 and there entertained the Shah of Persia in 1889. Prince’s Hotel extended to encompass the entire block and, until the Second World War, it was one of Hove’s finest hotels. The South Eastern Electricity Board purchased the building in 1948, subsequently using it as their headquarters until 1994.