Building Name

Bank Broadway Shopping Parade

Date
1905
Street
4-16 Kingston Hill
District/Town
Kingston-on-Thames
County/Country
Greater London, England
Work
New build

The shopping parade Bank Broadway at nos. 4‑16 Kingston Hill is much grander in scale and architectural conception than that at Park Road. It was designed by W. Wallis Baldwin of Lincoln?s Inn Fields, and is dated at 1905 by the decorative inscription in the gable of no.14. The front elevation of the group is asymmetric, and the blank north end elevation and prominent gable with decorative plaque on the unit second from the end suggest strongly that it may have been intended to extend the parade into the adjoining site.  The group has an imposing presence and elegantly slender proportions, and its three storeys are topped by a slate mansard roof with tall plain stacks. White stone string courses, quoins, keystones and window surrounds in the two taller gables contrast crisply with the red brick elevations, and there are steep gables to the second storey whose looped copings add a light and playful element, echoing the cambered first floor window heads, the aprons below the second storey windows and the scrolled pediments at the first and sixth bays. The first floor windows are a distinctive feature, tall and elegant; unfortunately, no. 12 has had PVCu units installed, whose bland finish and lack of modelling in frames andglazing bars detract from the architectural quality. No. 2, now Barclays Bank, was built in 1904 (as the London & South Western Bank) by architect John Bethell of Liverpool Street. Its two storey oriel windows provide a good visual focus in longer views across the junction. [Park Road Conservation Area Kingston upon Thames]