Often considered one of the nicest pieces of architecture in Nottingham, the grand Victorian building on King Street has housed everything from an insurance firm to a Hard Rock Cafe. Today, it is home to cocktail bar The Alchemist with its quirky and mysterious setting.
Designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the building was commissioned by the Prudential Assurance Company and completed in 1893. Speaking of its history last year, executive chair of the Nottingham Civic Society, Hilary Silvester said: "They pulled down slums - decrepit old buildings - and they built The Pru, and then they built the Elite Cinema above it.
"They [Prudential Assurance Company] were very a important insurance company in the 19th century, they built these rather pompous but very nice buildings. The ground floor had a public clerk, where people went in to pay their insurance premiums.”
