NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK, LTD.
New Premises at Halifax
This block, which is not a little reminiscent of the building at the junction of Aldwych and the Strand which formerly housed the offices of The Morning Post, makes an attractive street corner composition. And now that its prototype has also become a bank, the association between the two buildings has become even closer. Mr. Palmer’s design is none the worse for this resemblance, for obviously if a problem has once been satisfactorily solved in a particular way there is much to be said for a policy of conservatism, whereby an intellectual conquest already made is further solidified. What both buildings share in common is the small dome which so admirably emphasises the curved bay at the corner. Another point of resemblance is observable in the entrance doorway, which in each case is at the corner of the building
and thus gives an additional justification for a formal emphasis immediately above it. So we here have a definite type of composition, capable of being reproduced in a variety of ways, all pleasing and suggestive. Needless to say, the treatment, which in an architectural sense must necessarily be imposing, is only suitable to buildings of social consequence, and it may be contended that a bank is sufficiently important to merit this particular form of artistic celebration. Here, however, as is so often the case in modern commercial buildings, the firm which gives its name to the structure occupies only part of it, and is obliged to sublet the remainder as office accommodation for other firms. This policy does nothing to detract from the architectural dignity of the building, which in the present instance sets an admirable
(Continued on page 453. ) THE NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK, HALIFAX.
F. C. R. Palmer, F. R. I. B. A., Architect.
[Photo: Lewis & Randall, Ltd.
New Premises at Halifax
This block, which is not a little reminiscent of the building at the junction of Aldwych and the Strand which formerly housed the offices of The Morning Post, makes an attractive street corner composition. And now that its prototype has also become a bank, the association between the two buildings has become even closer. Mr. Palmer’s design is none the worse for this resemblance, for obviously if a problem has once been satisfactorily solved in a particular way there is much to be said for a policy of conservatism, whereby an intellectual conquest already made is further solidified. What both buildings share in common is the small dome which so admirably emphasises the curved bay at the corner. Another point of resemblance is observable in the entrance doorway, which in each case is at the corner of the building
and thus gives an additional justification for a formal emphasis immediately above it. So we here have a definite type of composition, capable of being reproduced in a variety of ways, all pleasing and suggestive. Needless to say, the treatment, which in an architectural sense must necessarily be imposing, is only suitable to buildings of social consequence, and it may be contended that a bank is sufficiently important to merit this particular form of artistic celebration. Here, however, as is so often the case in modern commercial buildings, the firm which gives its name to the structure occupies only part of it, and is obliged to sublet the remainder as office accommodation for other firms. This policy does nothing to detract from the architectural dignity of the building, which in the present instance sets an admirable
(Continued on page 453. ) THE NATIONAL PROVINCIAL BANK, HALIFAX.
F. C. R. Palmer, F. R. I. B. A., Architect.
[Photo: Lewis & Randall, Ltd.