Shanghai Commercial Bank

 office building, bank, 1902_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

5-story Beaux-Arts office building completed in 1902 as a townhouse. Designed by Jules Henri de Sibour for L.L. Benedict, it was later converted to offices, and is now occupied by The Shanghai Commercial Bank. Incorporated in November 1950, Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd. is one of the most well known local Chinese banks in Hong Kong. At present, there are more than 40 local and overseas branches. The Bank has always been pursuing the motto of its founder, Mr. Kwang-pu Chen, to "Serve the Community".

The facade is clad in red brick with limestone trim, above a rusticated limestone ground floor. The building is set back slightly from the lot line, with a low wrought-iron fence fronting the end bays. The central entrance has a glass door with a keystone above it, and the end bays have 3-over-4 windows with wood sash and splayed lintels. A band course caps the ground floor, topped by a decorative iron railing fronting the lower part of the 2nd floor.

The upper floors have three bays of single-windows. The tall 2nd-floor 2-over-6 windows have white wood sash and are slightly recessed between the brick piers, which are topped by stone cornice segments at the top level of each window; above the windows are brick round-arches. There are limestone keystones above each window, and larger keystones at the apex of the arches. The 3rd-floor 3-over-4 windows have white stone sills with metope brackets and splayed brick lintels with limestone imposts and keystones. Above them are simple stone panels and a stone band course that serves as a sill course for the 3rd-floor windows. These are also 3-over-4 windows, and they are topped by tall keystones that extend into a broad stone parapet. The top floor is a wood-shingled mansard with three peaked dormers, each with a keystone over its window.

www.shacombank.com.hk/scb/en_organization.html