Description

John McLachlan, 1879. 3-storey and attic, 6-bay symmetrical Free Renaissance tenement building with shop premises at ground floor. Smooth sandstone ashlar. Consoled fascia to right hand shop front Penultimate bays canted from 1st floor to attic level. 1st floor band course with scalloped tympana and shell motif. Cill courses (2nd floor bracketed); moulded architraves to 2nd floor windows consoled eaves course; canted attic bays with segmental pediments and acanthus tympana. Cast iron guilloche parapet at attic. Pedimented recessed dormers.

Plate glass windows to shopfronts; plate glass in timber sash and case windows above. Shallow double pitch M-section roof; grey slates; central corniced ashlar ridge stack with modern clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Interest

An important component of Shandwick place, Nos. 52, 54, 56 are well detailed in the mid-Victorian Free Renaissance style, with cast-iron parapet and the shell motifs adding interest. The tenement's position next to St. George's West Church reinforces its importance to the streetscape in a prominent thoroughfare leading into Princes Street. This building replaces part of the early 19th century palace fronted tenements by James Tait. Several private developments were made along the street and this design is a good examples of the late 19th century redevelopment of Shandwick Place.

This was one of John McLachlan's first buildings as a sole practitioner. He went on to become architect to the Bank of Scotland from 1884.

(Category changed from B to C(S) and list description updated 2009 as part of re-survey.)

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56632438

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)