Birtle Union Bank Building

• the structure's

location, facing north on Birtle's main business street, flush with the sidewalk

Key exterior elements that define the building's modest design include:

• its two-storey box-like massing, flat-roofed,

with a shed-roofed rear (south) addition

• the functionally arranged front facade with a wide rectilinear

main-floor window opening set between two slightly recessed end entrances

• the variety of windows, including

deep transoms over the front doors, etc.

Key elements that define the heritage character of the building's interior banking function include:

• the high-ceilinged open space with a small square entrance foyer

in the northeast corner, a glass-walled office enclosure across the remainder of the front and a rear storage room

• the oak-framed and pebbled-glass walls that separate the office from the public area,

with 'MANAGER' stencilled on the door's glass insert

• the large bank vault with its heavy

metal door finished in a well-preserved glossy black finish

• the wide wooden staircase, accessible directly

from the manager's office

• finishing details such as the pressed metal ceiling in the storage room

and the painted wood doors, baseboards and window trim

Key elements that define the character of the second-floor residential interior include:

• the high-ceilinged rooms organized around a spacious side

hall, including three interconnected north-end rooms and a kitchen, pantry and porch-like summer kitchen at the rear

• finishes and material details such as the wide window sills, the stained wooden floors,

the painted wood doors, window casings and wide baseboards, the metal heating vents and the exposed fieldstone construction of the summer kitchen's north wall