[TYPICAL INTERVIEW ROOM - ANCONA WALNUT.]

 

One of the Interview Rooms located off the Eastern Corridor, Ground Floor

[GENERAL VIEW OF BANKING HALL, LOOKING SOUTH - WALLS AND COUNTER FRONT BISCUIT COLOURED MARBLE; TEAK COUNTER TOP; CAST BRONZE GRILLES; CEILING, BISCUIT COLOUR WITH OLD GOLD, BACKED IN ANTIQUE SHADES OF BRICK RED AND PEACOCK BLUE; AMBER GLAZING.]

[OBSERVATION BALCONY IN ITALIAN MARBLE.]

 

The Balcony is above the customer's main entrance - this door was later replaced by a revolving door.
The square wall panel conceals a heating duct outlet

[TYPICAL CLERK'S OFFICE.]

 

This office was used by the House Purchase Department.
The Superintendent's office is beyond the screen at the far end

[FIRST FLOOR NORTHERN CORRIDOR - FRENCH STUC WALLS;

RUBBER FLOORING.]

 

The windows on the left overlook The Loggia and Broad Street.
Just visible on the right is the door that accesses the Balcony that
overlooks the Banking Hall. This corridor was known to staff as
'The Rogue's Gallery' as it featured photographs of Committee Members

 - two such photographs are just visible on the wall past the Balcony door.

The entrance to the Accounts Department was immediately

past these two photographs.

The more modern (1985) photo below, shows the other end of the same corridor - the group is the Bank's Accounts/Administration Department.

The Committee Member photograph is of Neville Chamberlain, and may be the same picture that hung in the General Manager's office in 1925.

[SAFE DEPOSIT CORRIDOR.

CAST BRONZE GRILLES.]

 

This corridor was on the north side of the building.

The entrance to the strongroom is on the left, the Custodian's office was behind the curved counter front visible on the right.
Customers would normally approach this secure area from the opposite side, a security officer controlling entry and exit at the grille gate

[TYPICAL STRONG ROOM DOOR.]

 

Actually, the Safe Deposit strongroom door, which was finished to a higher standard than the strongroom doors not visible to the public.
The two combination lock dials can be seen just above the large wheel, each side of the handle that threw the door's internal bolts. One of the building's synchronised clocks is to the left of the door; the dark circle at the right edge of the photograph is the 'buffer' against which the door opened

[A VIEW INTO SAFE DEPOSIT FROM CORRIDOR.]

 

The Safe Deposit strongroom door open to show the interior grille doors that would be fully open during customer access hours. A teak shelf was placed in the doorway to prevent trips over the threshold. The safe makers name over the door reads Chatwood

[GENERAL VIEW OF SAFE DEPOSIT, SHOWING RENTER BOXES - RENTER BOXES FACED WITH A SPECIAL ALUMINIUM ANODISED METAL;

CAST BRONZE COLUMNS AND DRESSINGS; AMBER FLOODLIGHT; RUBBER FLOORING

 

The Safe Deposit viewed from the entrance, looking south - the grilles in the corners provided access the unit's two storage rooms.
All the safes in the upper section are the smallest: 'Class A'. The three larger sizes of safe are in the lower section:
two rows of 'Class B'; two rows of 'Class C'; one row of the largest: 'Class D'.

The motto Prudent people seek a safe place wherein to lodge their securities is located on the south wall, beneath the horizontal lighting panel.

 

These original 4,640 safes were all located on the strongroom's four walls. An additional 5,888 safes were installed in 8 blocks in 1947 - see Image 029.