163 North Street, Brighton

163 North Street is a four-story building with a pink granite exterior positioned at a prominent corner in central Brighton, decorated with carved stone details, corner towers, and a distinctive cupola marking its entrance. The ground floor now houses a betting shop, while the upper levels showcase the typical layout of prosperous commercial buildings from the early 1900s.

Designed in 1904 by architects Clayton & Black, this Edwardian Baroque structure was built for the Royal Assurance Society and helped define North Street as a financial hub. Its construction was part of a broader wave of commercial development that positioned Brighton as a wealthy center during the early 1900s.

The building sits within a busy commercial district where it reflects how Brighton's center evolved into a prosperous trading hub in the early 1900s. Today visitors can observe the ornate details on its exterior, which were meant to impress merchants and clients of that era.

The building sits at an easy-to-spot corner location that serves as a helpful navigation reference point in central Brighton and can be viewed from the street. Keep in mind that this is an active commercial building, so interior access is limited to ground-floor shops and not generally available to the public.

The green slate roof tiles create a striking color contrast against the pink granite facades, making this building visually distinct from its neighbors in a way many visitors overlook. This color combination gives the structure its own visual identity that stands out upon closer inspection.