National Bank Building

National Bank Building
National Bank Building, cnr Harrison and Commissioner Str Johannesburg
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeBusiness-use
LocationJohannesburg, South Africa, Simmonds str
Completed1904
Technical details
Floor count11
Design and construction
Architect(s)Leck & Emly

The National Bank Building also known as the Corner House is situated on the corner of Market and Simmonds Streets in Johannesburg. The address 38-40 Simmonds Street corresponds to Stand 205 F.

It was designed by renowned architects Leck and Emley in 1903, and construction was completed in 1904. Leck and Emley also designed the neighbouring Corner House building in 1902, which was finished in 1904 on the corner of Simmonds and Commissioner Streets. The facade of the new National Bank Building blended well with that of the Corner House, and it is believed that J.B.Taylor, chairman of Corner House as well as a director of the National Bank, proposed the plan of combining the two.[1]

Fifty years later, in 1953, the bank (now Barclays) duplicated Taylor's thinking, and Gordon Leith was commissioned to design the third part of the building – the Market Street extension – in keeping with the two existing structures to form a cohesive unit.[1]

It was refurbished by the current owners, Barclays Bank.[2]

  1. ^ a b Early Johannesburg, Its Buildings and its People, Hannes Meiring, 1985. 34
  2. ^ "Corner House, Johannesburg | 307958". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved 2022-05-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)