One of the last remaining Georgian office buildings in this area of London (it can be found on the corner of Cheapside and King Street in the City of London) it was designed in 1836 by Thomas Hopper. He was commissioned by the Atlas Assurance Company, a fire and life insurance company, and took inspiration from classical Italian architecture.
Alfred Waterhouse, architect of buildings such as The Natural History Museum and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors designed the late 19th century alterations. In the 1950s the firm of Ripley and Waterhouse (Alfred Waterhouse’s grandson) were commissioned to restore the building which had been damaged by a bomb in 1941.
In the early ’60s a modern clock with a gold sculpture of Atlas was added to the building.
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