Södra Bankohuset

[2] Coherently designed as elongated block-size palace, Södra Bankohuset unites the prestigious line-up along Skeppsbron with the narrow urban conglomeration of the old town.

It is depicted as a one-storey brick building with a stepped gable and white blind windows, a crane hanging over the round arched portal facing the square.

As two stories were added to the Scales House in 1596-1603, the shed was enlarged into a warehouse and the entire structure transformed into a Renaissance building furnished with an elaborated stone portal, horizontal sandstone fillets, volutes and finials, and a ridge turret covered in copper.

[3] During the 17th century, both the Crown and the city encouraged merging minor plots into larger, thus allowing private stone palaces to replace medieval buildings, small alleys, and parts of public spaces.

In 1676, Tessin the Elder presented a scaled-down version of his original stock exchange design; restricting the new structure to the working site between the old Scale House and the square.

This 'Roman Renaissance' composition originating from France and Italy, depending on abstract geometry with bricks hidden by plaster, was to become the predominant style in the architecture of Stockholm until the 1870s.

Stonemason Anders Brokamp, originally from Bremen, was employed for both exterior and interior decorations, while the stuccoer Simon Necleus and the carpenter Daniel Heinssler were paid in 1679.

[3] In the board's assembly room, centred on a six metres long desk, was a ceiling painted in grisaille stucco-imitations, walls covered with woven fabrics displaying a forest landscape, and doors and windows furnished with green broadcloths and curtains.

Some Baroque interior fittings from this time is still present in the building, including classical corner mouldings, fire resistant doors with six double fillings, and separate windows with original hinges, colour, and glaziers lead casements.

[3] Following the endless wars and the death of King Charles XII (1682–1718) came the so-called Age of Liberty (1718–1772), a period of recovery during which discussions to extend the bank further east appeared increasingly feasible.

Exactly where the work of Tessin the Younger ended have been disputed, but as Hårleman paid close attention to the original intentions of both his predecessors, the design is unison throughout the entire building.

For the eastern façade however, Hårleman chose a more elaborated Italian Renaissance scheme, using alternatingly arched and triangular window lintels for the piano nobile, and channelled rustication up to the first mezzanine.