11A AND 12-15, YORK STREET

11A and 12-15 York Street is a terrace of shops with accommodation above, now used as offices and art galleries. It was built around 1819, possibly with a design by William Wilkins. The building is constructed from limestone ashlar and features a Welsh slate roof.

The exterior showcases a Greek Revival style, consisting of two storeys and eleven bays arranged in a four:three:four pattern, with a prominent pedimental centre-piece of three bays. Giant Doric pilasters extend through both floors, supporting an entablature. The ground floor windows are six-over-six casements, flanked by square colonnettes in the jambs, except for one window which has a six-light design and a tripartite casement as a centrepiece. The first-floor windows are all six-over-six sash windows, and the doors are four-panel with tripartite lights above.

The interiors have not been inspected. The building was converted for commercial use in 1975. It was likely constructed around the same time as Wilkins's Masonic Hall across the street, which it stylistically resembles, although the centres of the two buildings do not align, affecting the overall harmony of this unique example of Greek Revival town planning. There is no known direct connection to Wilkins. This terrace represents a notable instance of fashionable Grecian design applied to smaller, non-institutional buildings. Evidence from the projecting masonry toothing on the second floor of No.16 to the east indicates that this terrace was built after plans to extend Nos.16-19 further west were abandoned.