1, Commercial Road

The building at 1 Commercial Road, Gloucester, is an office building that began as the Gloucester Savings Bank constructed between 1849 and 1850 by Hamilton and Medland. It was designed to fit a triangular site at the corner of Commercial Road and Southgate Street, with a deliberately angled façade facing the intersection.

The building is constructed of ashlar, with a slate roof and ashlar stacks. It is in an Italianate style. The exterior features unified elevations on both streets, comprising five bays facing Commercial Road, a single splayed bay at the street intersection, and two bays facing Southgate Street. The ground floor is rusticated, with chamfered offset plinths, raised imposts, and semicircular arches over each bay, featuring sculpted heads on the keystones. Vermiculated quoins mark the corners, and a raised band runs along the first-floor level. The upper floors are of plain ashlar, with raised chamfered quoins and a moulded string at the first-floor sill level. A moulded cornice with a blocking course sits above. The main entrance, in the central bay of the Commercial Road frontage, features a semicircular fanlight, panelled double doors, Roman Doric pilasters, and an entablature. Each arcade bay on the ground floor also contains a semicircular arched sash window with a projecting stone sill. The first floor features sashes framed by moulded architraves, with a pediment on console brackets above the central Commercial Road window and the window in the canted bay. Second-floor windows are shorter, with a blind window in the canted bay, all framed by moulded, eared architraves and projecting sills supported by brackets. A tall chimney stack with recessed panels and a crowning cornice is located on the Southgate Street front. The interior of the building has not been inspected.