Brown Thomas

Attached three-bay four-storey commercial block, built c. 1904, likely as part of Switzer & Co. department store, with shopfront to ground floor. Altered c. 1995 and still in commercial use. Pie-ended hipped roof with ogee rainwater goods mounted on projecting moulded cornice with modillioned console brackets. Painted rendered walling with stucco dressings, including continuous projecting sill courses to top two floors and moulded to second floor. Square-headed window openings to first floor, with lug-headed architraves, surmounted by triangular pediments on scrolled console brackets with foliate stops, and having bipartite metal casement windows with centrally hinged overlights. Segmental-headed openings to top two floors, with lugged architrave surrounds and projecting keystones, moulded hood-cornice to second floor openings, windows to top floor being paired and having scrolled architrave stops. Timber sliding sash windows to top two floors are timber sliding sash, two-over-two pane to second floor and one-over-one pane to top floor. Basket-headed shopfront opening to ground floor, framed by white-glazed faience-clad surrounds over flush granite-clad plinth, rising to fascia with stepped and moulded raked cornice over and flanked by foliate mouldings and decorative scrolled consoles. Central proportion of fascia has inset decorative mosaic with gilded lettering 'Switzer & Co. Ltd', flanked by scrolled consoles rising to projecting stepped cornice featuring stiff-leaf mouldings, framed by further consoles and surmounted by swan's-neck pediment with rosette-scrolls flanking foliate shield-motif. Three recent display windows with overlights and colonnettes (possibly brass or copper) over polished black granite stall-riser, framed by painted reeded surrounds with recessed upper panel having decorative iron screens with foliate brackets. Forms part of larger premises comprising Nos. 1-5 Clarendon Street, Nos. 38-44 Wicklow Street and Nos. 88-95 Grafton Street.

Ornate early twentieth-century commercial building, constructed about 1904 to the designs of Charles Ashworth, likely as part of the Switzer & Co. department store. Although somewhat altered about 1995, when Brown Thomas took over Switzers, the building is a focal point that enlivens and diversifies the streetscape, standing out against the surrounding red brick fabric which dominates much of Wicklow Street. Particularly noteworthy is the elaborate faience-clad shopfront surround, surmounted by a foliate swan's-neck pediment over the intricate mosaic signage, that effectively and pleasantly breaks the homogeneity of the neighbouring shopfront surrounds.