Former National Westminster Bank, 36 Corn Street

The former National Westminster Bank at 36 Corn Street is a building originally designed as assurance offices, constructed between 1865 and 1867. The building was substantially rebuilt behind its facade in 1977, with a design by W.B. Gingell, and features sculpture by T. Colley. It is built of limestone ashlar with Pennant stone dressings, and has a roof that is not visible. The layout consists of an open banking hall and double-depth plan offices. The architectural style is Baroque Revival.

The building is three storeys and an attic, with a five-window front. The facade is symmetrical and articulated by a giant order of paired columns on pedestals; these are Composite on the ground floor, Corinthian on the upper two floors, and single on either side. The front has a dentil cornice to the ground floor and a modillion cornice to the second floor, with a projecting cornice and a later attic storey with a pedimented centre. The ground floor has a Pennant stone plinth and banded detailing with vermiculated courses and vermiculated voussoirs to the semicircular arched openings. The outer doorways have carved head keys, with 20th-century doors on the left and double eight-panel doors on the right. Raised windows have coved surrounds and carved keys with heads, fitted with 20th-century glazing bars. Two marble oval panels are positioned below the windows and are inscribed “OLD BANK”.

The first and second floors have banded detailing behind the columns. The first-floor windows have moulded lintels and egg-and-dart imposts, while the semicircular-arched second-floor windows have egg-and-dart dripstones and scrolled keys. The attic has paired caryatids representing the Seasons and Elements, octagonal urns at the ends, a small segmental pediment within the main pediment, and half-segmental pediments on each side, all with egg-and-dart mouldings. The extreme ends of the building curve forward to align with the building line. The windows are horned sashes.

The interior was rebuilt in 1977. The marble panels are from Bristol's first bank, with which the later National Westminster merged. The building was formerly even more elaborately decorated, with carving representing the need for insurance.