West India House

West India House is an office building dating from 1903, designed by Oatley and Lawrence. It is constructed with a red sandstone plinth, limestone ashlar facing, red brick with limestone dressings, brick lateral stacks, and a slate roof. The building follows a double-depth plan and is executed in an Edwardian Baroque style.

The three-story building with two attics has a five-window range. The symmetrical facade is slightly set back from the centre and features a moulded plinth, a banded ground floor, a plat band, a pulvinated frieze, a modillion cornice, an attic storey, and later dormers. The central section is set forward and has a pediment with paired Ionic pilasters. The doorway has a semicircular arch with a coved surround, a large key, a segmental-arched canopy on paired brackets, a teardrop fanlight, and double doors. The ground-floor and second-floor windows are segmental-arched, with architraves to the upper floors, pediments on the first floor, and semicircular-arched windows on the second floor. A three-storey semicircular-arched stair window is centrally positioned, featuring an oculus with relief branches in the tympanum. There are three large three-light dormers. The windows are sash windows with panes over plate glass.

Inside, there is an open-well stair above the entrance hall. West India House displays a well-composed facade and holds an important position within the area. As a good example of the architects' commercial work, it reflects the style of the Scottish Provident Institution, located on Clare Street.