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Water Street
1908
Grade II*
The Tower of Liverpool, a fortified house belonging to the Stanley family, Earls of Derby, was used by them as an embarkation base for their property in the Isle of Man.
But by the end of the 18th century it was in disrepair and in 1819 was replaced by warehouses. In 1856 these were replaced by Tower Buildings, a large Italianate office block by J. A. Picton.
The present Tower Buildings, completed around 1908, was designed by Aubrey Thomas, architect of the Royal Liver Building.
It is similarly inventive, being one of the earliest steel-framed buildings in the country.
The staircases are constructed on steel joists cantilevered out from the walls, thus removing the need for cranked strings, and the roofs, floors and partition walls are formed of reinforced hollow clay bricks.
The building is clad in white Doulton terracotta in an attempt to cope with the polluted atmosphere of the city, and its facades, being largely undecorated, appear strikingly modern for its date.
Oriel Chambers, Water Street
1864
Grade I
The oriels on the Water Street and Covent Garden elevations are separated by tall stone mullions, carved with nailhead decoration, and designed to look like cast iron.
But the oriels themselves are framed in the thinnest sections of iron, and in the courtyard behind, the glazing forms a curtain wall, cantilevered out beyond the line of the frame.
In its frank expression of function and technology it anticipated by 20 years the commercial buildings of Chicago and New York.
In its day, the building aroused much opposition. The Builder called it a "vast abortion" and an "agglomeration of protruding plate glass bubbles".
Ellis's known only other commercial building, that is known to survive is No. 16, Cook Street, of two years later. In its stripped aesthetic, it too is startlingly modern.
India Buildings, Water Street
1924-31
Grade II
This immense office block was built for the Blue Funnel Line at a cost of £1,250,000 and designed by Herbert J Rowse with Briggs, Wostenholme and Thorneley. Rowse won the commission in competition, and it launched his career.
Occupying a whole block between Water Street and Brunswick Street, it has stripped classical facades of great dignity and refinement, typical of North American architecture of the 1920s, with which Rowse was familiar.
Italian Renaissance detail is restricted to the top and bottom storeys. A barrel vaulted arcade flanked by shops runs through the centre of the ground floor, another American feature.
The building was badly damaged in the war, and restored under Rowse's supervision.
Barclays Bank (formerly Martins Bank), Water Street
1927-32
Grade II*
On the opposite side of Water Street to India Buildings is Barclay's Bank, originally Martin's Bank, also designed by Rowse.
It is similarly monumental and American influenced. The stylish top lit banking hall, with its Parisian jazz moderne fittings, survives well, as does the boardroom. Sculpture and carvings by Herbert Tyson Smith with Edmund Thompson and George Capstick celebrate maritime themes as well as money.
General Accident Building,
Water Street
c.1895 and c.1930
Grade II
The architecture of the Italian Renaissance appealed to 19th century Liverpool bankers, for its association of commerce with learning.
This building, part of which was erected as headquarters of the Bank of Liverpool is one of the most distinguished of several banks erected in the manner of Italian palazzi.
The banking hall on the ground floor extends into a lower block occupying the courtyard space that would be found in a true palazzo, whilst a screen of six giant fluted Doric columns framed by angle pilasters gives emphasis to the floors above.
The huge bronze entrance doors are furnished with panthers' heads with open jaws and ferocious teeth.