48 Water Street

48 Water Street is a 19th-century red-brick building featuring gold terracotta bands and dressings, topped with a slate roof. It consists of a row of four shops along the Water Street elevation, which are now used as offices. The corner of the building, where it meets Crescent Road, has a larger shop that is architecturally distinct, with two windows facing Water Street and a single window return on Crescent Road, creating an angled corner.

The Water Street elevation has two prominent pedimented bays that house entrances, flanked by shop fronts. The first floor features outer and paired central canted oriel windows. The doorways are set back in segmental arches, adorned with mannerist pilasters supporting the architraves. The shop fronts on either side have recessed doorways and curved windows divided by slim mullions and high-set transoms, with small upper panes. Above the doorways are sash windows.

The taller corner section has large segmentally arched windows with scrolled voussoirs and small upper panes on each floor, framed by mannerist pilasters on the ground floor and plain pilasters above. A continuous moulded cornice and blocking course bands run along the top. The entrance at the corner is framed by a segmentally arched architrave, with a hoodmould supported by bold mannerist brackets. Above, a canted turret projects out, featuring three narrow sash windows with rubbed brick heads and an ogee leaded roof topped with a fleche.

Decorative low relief panelling, which includes a clock, is located below the roof. The building also has segmentally arched pedimented gables with ball finials and scrolled kneelers at the attic level on either side of the tower, as well as in the rear return facing Water Street. These gables feature oculi set in cartouches, complete with keystones and voussoirs.