The Harpur Centre, Bedford

High Street


5. High Street

The "Old Bank" at the top of the High Street as it was in 1992 - formally actually a bank, and subsequently enduring many further changes of name and ownership. But the fine pilasters to the 1st and 2nd floor elevation have remained intact throughout, complete with fluting, and composite capitals, with architrave and full entablature above them. If these two floors were a free-standing building, the proportions would be not far off the golden ratio (as found in the Parthenon, for example). The irregular spacing of the pilasters is a tribute to the mannerist phase of Italian renaissance architecture, as is the variation between "round" and "square" sections.

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