106, Whiteladies Road

The building at 106 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, is a bank constructed in 1906 by Drake and Pizey. It is an example of the Edwardian Baroque style, built with limestone ashlar and featuring ashlar stacks. The structure follows a double-depth plan and stands three storeys high, with an attic. The symmetrical front incorporates a plain plinth, a banded ground floor distinguished by large, alternate quoins to a band, and a piano nobile with giant Ionic pilasters rising to a frieze. A modillion cornice tops the pilasters, leading to a steep pediment with low parapets on either side. The main doorway is framed by a semicircular arch, featuring a plate-glass overlight and panelled double doors, with a rocaille cartouche above the key. Gibbsian Ionic columns are attached to an open segmental pediment, with small, pedimented panels at the base. Ground-floor windows have segmental heads, transoms, scrolled shoulders and ears, and keys with volute tops. First-floor windows have shouldered and eared architraves, tall keys in a gabled hood, and sashes with glazing bars. Smaller second-floor windows are flanked by blocked columns and keys, along with sashes with glazing bars. Central tripartite windows are present on the first floor, with Gibbsian columns and a central segmental pediment. Wreathed panels decorate the frieze with a segmental pediment inside the tympanum, which contains an attic window with a scrolled architrave and a key that bisects the pediment. The right elevation has a similar design, with a 3-window range, paired windows on the upper floors, and a central pediment flanked by stacks and a balustrade. The interior was remodelled around 1960. The building displays two notable elevations and represents an elaborate Edwardian design.