ICBC Argentina headquarters, Neo-Plateresque bank building in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, Argentina

ICBC Argentina headquarters is a Neo-Plateresque office building from 1924 at the corner of Avenida Roque Sáenz Peña, Florida and Bartolomé Mitre. Its 115-metre facade is modelled on Spanish Renaissance works: the 17-metre corner arcade follows the Hospital de Santa Cruz in Toledo, and the corner is capped by a circular dome with red brick-coloured Spanish tiles. The entrance is bronze, made in England, and weighs 4 tonnes.

Architect Paul Bell Chambers designed this banking structure in 1924 as the original headquarters for the First National Bank of Boston in Argentina. The building marks a period when international financial institutions established their presence in Buenos Aires through grand architectural statements.

The Neo-Plateresque facade quotes Spanish Renaissance buildings: sculptures after the Convent of San Marcos in León and the cathedral library in Santiago, and a 17-metre corner arcade modelled on Toledo's Hospital de Santa Cruz. The corner dome is finished in red-brick Spanish colonial tiles, and the entrance door was cast in England in bronze, weighing 4 tonnes.

The building sits at Florida 99 in central Buenos Aires and is easily reached on foot. It continues to house ICBC Argentina's main operations and displays all its original architectural details from the exterior.

The building's stone carvings and decorative elements rank among the few remaining examples of Neo-Plateresque style in the financial district. These handcrafted details are increasingly uncommon today, as many other structures from that era have been modernized or demolished.