The Natal Bank Building is situated on Stand 194 at 90 Market Street in the city of Johannesburg. Natal Bank was the second bank to open a branch in the city after Standard Bank.The Natal Bank’s first bank building was erected on the same site in 1891 by M. B. Houge, architect. It was a generous height single storey building of brick with a projecting pediment, and was demolished to make way for the larger existing building. Ideally situated a block away from the Stock Exchange and the National Bank of the South African Republic, the bank prospered and two years later plans were accepted for a new four-storeyed building and vaults.A new design was prepared by architects Carter and McIntosh in 1889, but the second Anglo-Boer War hampered the building operations. Soon after peace had been restored, McIntosh and Moffat were commissioned to redesign the building, which was eventually occupied on 24 August 1903. This is the building as it currently stands. At the time, the building cost £29,847 to construct and has an area of ~460m2.DesignThe building is Neo-Classical in style, reflecting the stylistic preference of the period. Van Der Waal describes it as follows: ‘Attractively proportioned, this building was divided horizontally and vertically into three sections according to the classicist tradition. A strikingly broad arched window, similar to those used by the Richardson School in America, was placed at ground level in the conspicuous middle section with its Ionic columns’.ConstructionThe building is supported by a steel frame, with socle of dressed granite, marble columns and plastered brickwork. The roof is pitched, which distinguishes it from the multitude of later, taller buildings which had flat concrete roof construction. Timber-framed sliding sash windows provide elegant fenestration.
