Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Somerset House Johannesburg, Gauteng Robert Lockhart McCOWAT: Architect

Date: 1904-1905 Type: Offices Status: Extant Street: 110 Fox Street   Click to view large map Coordinates: 26°12'21.90" S 28°02'34.73" E Alt: 1753m

Transcription of Johannesburg Heritage Foundation Blue Plaque JOHANNESBURG CITY HERITAGE SOMERSET HOUSE Somerset House was built in 1906 for the United Building Society. The building’s Edwardian classicism, symbolising stability and permanence, is attributed to architect R.L. McCowat. United moved to larger premises in 1928, and the building’s new owners replaced the facade’s arched windows with shopfronts and converted the banking hall into a retail arcade in 1930, but the basement safety deposit boxes remained until 2000. It has many notable original features, including art-nouveau tiles. Restoration of the building in 2018 by Olitzki Property Holdings included re-opening the arcade into Gandhi Square. (Source: The Heritage Portal) References: Gaylard, Shaun & McDougall, Brett . 2022. RSA 365 : 365 Drawings of South African Architecture. Johannesburg: Blank Ink Design. pg 106 ill van der Waal, Gerhard-Mark. 1987. From Mining Camp to Metropolis - The buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. pg 132