NOTES ON NEW BUILDINGS.
DIX HALL IN THREADNEEDLE STREET: THE SUN FIRE-OFFICE. No person of taste can have passed through Threadneedle Street since the elegant facade erected on the site of the French Church has been exposed to view, without stopping to admire the simplicity and beauty of the design ; which is also remarkable as being the production of an amateur—a man of business, the architect of his own fortune as well as of this handsome edifice—Mr. Moxstte, the biscuit-baker in the same street. It consists of a central door, with two windows on each side, of noble dimensions, ornamented with Grecian pediments : the cor- nice of the roof rests on a frieze of scroll-work, gracefully designed and boldly carved ; and an elaborate bas-relief of numerous figures, finely sculptured, extends nearly the whole length of the front. There are neither columns nor pilasters, nor any projection save the pediments and cornice; yet so justly proportioned are the few features of this facade, that its effect is broad and massive almost to grandeur. It has one great defect, however : for want of quoins, or some other support and finish to the angles of the building, it looks like a piece of wall, with nothing to support its superincumbent weight. While making this grave objection, we may as well allude to a lesser: the windows are divided by heavy wooden frames, of a cruciform shape, into four large panes of equal dimensions, the cross-bar intersecting the upright in the middle : the proportions of a Latin cross would have been more in accordance with the style and proportions of the building ; or the four plates might have been placed longwise, one above an- other, with slight frames of bronze at the joints; almost any ar- rangement of the glass would have been preferable to the one adopted. The precise purpose for which this hail is intended does not transpire ; but the subject of the bas-relief implies that it is of a commercial na- ture. The allegory represents Commerce supported by Law and Justice, diffusing peace, liberty, industry, and civilization over the world. The sculptor, Mr. M. L WATSON, has expressed this meaning distinctly and dramatically : on one side are groups of vintagers and navigators, with Britannia giving liberty to the Negro slaves ; on the other, Peace heralds the fine arts to the savages. The different groups are well arranged, so as to be connected without crowding ; the design is in classic taste ; and the figures are boldly sculptured, with broad, striking effect, in common stone. The interior is even more admirable than the exterior it is planned with skill and judgment, and most beautifully decorated. The ground-floor is divided into two lofty and spacious saloons of noble proportions, and well-lighted: that on the left is square, with a semi- circular recess ; the cornice supported by pilasters with Corinthian ca- pitals, and the ceiling ornamented with a chaste and elegant coving formed of the lotus-leaf and flower : that on the right is a most superb apartment, and in point of proportion and enrichment one of the finest rooms in the Metropolis. Its dimensions are one hundred and thirty feet long, forty-four feet wide, and fifty feet high ; three square apertures in the ceiling, glazed with sheets of plate glass, in a novel manner, let in a flood of light and show the sky above. At one end is a semicircular recess, which, as well as a square recess at each side, is ornamented by two fluted columns with Corinthian capitals : these columns and pilasters support the entablature; which is ornamented by a frieze of the most beautiful character, consisting of a rich and fanciful scroll of fruits and flowers, designed with picturesque freedom, and executed in very high relief, equalling in lightness and projection the best wood-carving. From a bold cornice springs the coving of the ceiling ; which is light and hand- some, in accordance with the rest of the decorations. The coup d'ceil is singularly elegant : the just proportions of the room prevent it at first sight from appearing so large as it really is ; but its airiness and daylight brightness produce that agreeable sense of space and amplitude which is so seldom experienced in modern apartments even of great pre- tensions. Much of this is owing to the excellent plan of lighting front the roof by means of skylights, with side-panes inclining inward towards the top. The rooms are not yet quite finished : the ground of the ornaments will be painted with pale tints of blue, buff, or some delicate colour. The semicircular recesses, which are also well lighted, and the spaces between the pilasters, are adapted for fresco, and seem to invite the painter: the sculpture without leads one to look for painting within. We hope that Mr. MOXHAY will consider this suggestion.
The Sun Fire-office, in the same street, is the reverse of the building just described ; being deficient in unity and breadth of effect, and re- markable for ingenuity and elegance of detail rather than simplicity. It is designed by Mr. C. R. COCRERELL, and is characterized by his capricious fancy and petite taste, which tend to an excess of ornament; but it is admirable for the boldness and skill with which it has been adapted to its situation. The site being the corner of Bartholomew Lane, the angle of the building meets the eye of the passenger approach- ing from the Mansionhouse to the Bank and Exchange : this point, therefore, has been made the main feature of the structure. By cutting off the angle, this flat corner is constituted the centre and entrance ; the two sides fronting the Bank and Exchange respectively forming the wings. The difficulty has been well met, if not so successfally sur- mounted as could be desired. A lofty doorway, ornamented with two Doric columns, supports a round-headed window, over which hangs a massive wreath of flowers; and above figures conspicuously the badge of the office, a blazing sun of shield-like character, supported by two cornucopim. The windows adjoining, and those at the end of both fronts, are similarly decorated, but less prominently. The facades up to the first-floor are plain, with rusticated quoins, and only a Greek string- course between the two lower ranges of windows ; the upper part, being most visible, is ornamented with a row of columns supporting the cor- nice of the roof. The soffits, or under-surfaces of all the projections, are carved ; so that persons passing immediately under the building and looking up see all the ornamental features, which are rich and classic. The chimnies, as in the Reform Club, are architectural in character. In fine, the purpose of the edifice is distinctly shown ; and it is well adapted to its situation, which it becomes handsomely. It combines solidity with finished elegance ; and is evidently the work of an architect of original resources and cultivated taste, albeit somewhat of a petit maitre. The blazing suns have been objected to ; but we admire the way in which the official badge has been introduced, and also the sun-flower in the pediments and on the swing-course, Mr. COCKERELL is more felicitous in designing architectural ornaments than in applying them so that they shall appear an essential part of the structure, not stuck on afterwards : the fasces and caduceus on the London and Westminster Bank—his best design, in our opinion—are worth attention ; and the devices in the new Dividend-office of the Bank of England are in classic taste. HIS design for the Royal Exchange, though we could not admire it alto- gether so much as many did, had some good points in it, and would certainly have been a more attractive building than the lumbering com- monplace now too plainly showing itself.
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