IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Union Court, LIVERPOOL, L2 4SJ

The one time home of Queen insurance hidden away in Elbow Lane, which was the first insurance company to pay out to the San Francisco earthquake victims

Hidden away in Liverpool city centre.

The ground floor is late-C20th, but above is an attractive Edwardian or perhaps late Victorian facade. Canted windows with very slender mullions (which makes the building look ahead of its time), carved heads above and small inset carved figures between them. At the time of the photo none of the building's office space was used.

Pevsner calls it a "windowless cliff", but there is a bit more to it than that. There is an Art Deco-ish zigzag frieze at the top of the main block, whose facade is broken up by panels of slanting verticals. What a lot of trouble to go to for such a utilitarian building. Architects, in this case Herbert Rowse, 1931-34, and engineers have interestingly exploited the opportunities presented by the Mersey Tunnel. Grade II listed.

Remarkable building designed in the 1860s by Peter Ellis, architect also of Oriel Chambers.

Derby Square improvement works are in progress.

Concrete with a distinctive motif of windows set between projecting ribs and below arched sections. Rather Seifertian, but I have not unearthed the identity of the architect. The ground floor had been snaffled by anodyne pub chain, Slug and Lettuce, and the offices above were occupied by, amongst others, the Citizens Advice Bureau. David Hughes tells me that the building was once home to Watson Prickard, "a large high class retailer for ladies'/gentlemen's and children's clothing". Penny Mayes has found a website on which Tim Topping states the architect was his father, John.

Reached through a gateway in this building Image By the same architect, Samuel Rowland, and of the same date, c1837-38. Contrasted with the other, this is described by Pevsner as an "exquisite Greek Revival design". Fluted Doric columns at ground floor, then fluted Ionic columns under a pediment with an anthemion and palmette frieze. Grade II* listed. Built as the Royal Bank, it is currently barristers' chambers.

Another remarkable building by Peter Ellis, or, more accurately, the other remarkable building since he designed only this and the better-known Image The balance of glass to wall prefigures Modernism (compare with its neighbour and contemporary, Image]). Working in this building must have been a revelation to workers used to dingy darkness. A narrow facade composed of three arches, the central one crowned by an obelisk. Built c1868. Grade II* listed. Stung by criticism of Oriel Chambers ("a great abortion") Ellis abandoned architecture. How sad that he didn't live to witness the accolades subsequently heaped upon his work. Sometimes it takes time for innovation to be appreciated, a lesson we could do with re-learning.

Built as the National Bank, 1863, by William Culshaw or Henry Sumners. Generously-proportioned Italianate with a typically emphatic cornice. The protruding shopfronts between the columns are later. The ground floor was occupied by an Italian restaurant, Piccolino. Its illustrious neighbour is this: Image