Description

David and John Bryce, 1874-78. 3-storey attic and basement 9-bay Italianate former palazzo bank. Polished cream sandstone ashlar (stonecleaned). Blind balustrade to basement area. Banded vermiculated piers at ground; 3 Ionic porches, that at centre with coupled columns, with arched pilastered doorways with shell tympana and 2-leaf panelled doors. Corinthian aedicules at 1st floor, emphasised at centre. Lugged architraves to 2nd floor windows. Bracketed cornice and balustraded parapet with dormers set behind.

2-storey 4-bay stugged ashlar range to lane with older crowstepped gable and corniced stack to E

Timber sash and case windows; 6-and 4-pane. Corniced ashlar stacks; grey slates.

INTERIOR: pilastered lobby leads to off-centre Banking Hall with 4 polished Peterhead granite Corinthian columns leading to top lit telling area, with elaborate consoled and coved ceiling; original floor tiles survive under carpet, original furniture by John Taylor & Son of Edinburgh; mahogany counter with mahogany and brass screen behind; etched glass throughout; consoled pedimented door to Manager?s office, divided from Interview Room by etched glazed screen, both with marble chimneypieces. Room to rear of lobby with further marble chimneypiece. Staircases servicing all floors at either end of the building. At 1st floor, 3-bay former Boardroom with panelled dado, embossed ceiling and frieze; chimneypiece replaced by patched dado. Further open stair to 2nd floor (all stairs with cast-iron banisters). At 2nd floor 2 timber chimneypieces to larger rooms; considerable alterations. Large walk-in safes at both basement and ground levels.

Statement of Interest

Built as the head Edinburgh office of the Glasgow based Union Bank. The Banking Hall is by John Bryce; it was refurbished in 1977 by Thomas Alexander. Vacated by the bank in 1995.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17569508

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy