The assessor for the competition was Norman Shaw, who was retained as an advisory architect for the project, but it is uncertain what part he played in it.

[1][2] It ceased to be used by the late 1980s, and its condition deteriorated so much that it was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register of English Heritage.

[5] At the 20 years of the register, the renovation of the Royal Insurance Building was named as one of the successful rescues.

[7] Constructed around a steel frame, the building is in Portland stone, with a granite basement and ground floor.

The first floor contains a round-headed window surrounded by a portico with a broken segmental pediment containing carved figures.

Between the turrets at attic level are three round-headed windows with rusticated Ionic pilasters, an entablature, and an iron balcony.

[2] There is an earlier Royal Insurance Building, dating from 1839, in nearby Queen Avenue, also Grade II* listed.