1912 – AIB, South Mall, Cork

Distinctive and imposing bank building on a prominent site, in the main financial district of Cork. Built as a head office for the Munster and Leinster Bank, and now a branch of Allied Irish Banks after a series of mergers in the 1960. The building has a fine range of Ionic columns across the upper storeys of the façade and has a setback attic storey with balustrade. The two ends of the building feature carved representations of the Munster and Leinster crests on the attic storey but sadly are minus the sculptural groups originally designed for them.

“The scheme for enlarging the head office of the Munster and Leinster Bank in its initial stage was confined to an extension of the old red – brick front, but the directors afterwards came to the conclusion that an entirely new stone front was more desirable. Owing to the importance of retaining the business of the bank intact the greater part of the new office was planned on a new site, maintaining the old office until the new portion was fit to occupy, which involved considerable difficulties both as regarded foundations and other structural arrangements , but with the care of the builders the work was carried through successfully .

The fact that the external centre of the frontage did not agree with the centre of the banking hall has been masked by the treatment of the porch. The hall is rectangular in plan, covered by a dome supported on four square white marble piers with eight monolithic breccia pillars, six of them having formerly been placed as an organ gallery at St. Paul’s Cathedral. A gallery on three sides connects the board room, the manager’s room, the secretary’s and other departments on the first floor. The building is of fireproof construction, all floors and roofs are concrete, the latter being covered with asphalt.

The architects were Messrs. A. & H.H. Hill. The building contractors were Messrs. John Sisk & Son, Cork, who carried out a portion of the concrete work, the rest having been constructed by Messrs . Homan & Rodgers, Manchester. The heating was in charge of Messrs. Musgrave, Belfast. The counter – front is made of green Galway marble, and fittings in connection were carried out by Messrs. Singer. The strong room, which is a particularly good one, was constructed by Messrs . Chatwood’s Patent Safe and Lock Co., Ltd.”. The Architect, July 20, 1917.

“IN the summer of 1908 a design for the remodelling of this building was sought by means of a limited competition, whose two leading conditions were that there should be as little interference as possible with the maintenance of business: on the premises during rebuilding, and that the front of the existing building at the corner of the site should be retained and incorporate@ in the new design. The corner building referred to is a brick and stone structure in the Romanesque style of fifty years ago, of no particular merit, but a complete entity in its design, and liable only to be spoiled by addition. It was therefore fortunate, before working drawings came to be made, that the directors of the bank were induced to abandon the former condition in favour of the new stone front of uniform and more modern design which appears in our illustration.

The necessity of carrying on the business during rebuilding naturally dominates the whole arrangement of the plan. The principal part of the present public office is contained in the old corner building, i.e., where the staircase hall, bookroom, etc., appear on the new plan, and this has to remain intact until the new banking hall is complete. The axis of the interior is thus thrown out of that of the centre of the front, but the resulting irregularity is taken up in the vestibule, and otherwise hardly affects the appearance of the building.”
The Builder, May 11, 1912