Description

James Bow Dunn & James Leslie Findlay, 1903-4. 4-storey Free Scots Renaissance corner tenement on gushet site with copper ogee dome and commercial premises to ground. Sandstone ashlar with moulded ashlar dressings. Moulded 2nd and 4th storey string courses. Canted 3-window corner bay with curving lugged architraved doorpiece to ground, corbelled out to 2-storey semi-octagonal oriel, with circular 4th storey above; pilastered with block parapet to flanking bays; surmounted by flattened copper ogee roof with double-bracketed cornice; weathervane finial at apex. Irregular fenestration arrangement to flanking bays; tall wallhead stacks near centre; varied dormerhead treatment breaking eaves with Flemish inspired pediments to outer bays. Brick to rear.

Timber sash and case windows with 6-pane glazing to upper section and 2-pane to lower throughout 1st,2nd and 3rd floors; predominantly large non-traditional replacement plate glass to commercial premises to ground. Slate roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Coped stacks with clay cans.

Statement of Interest

Part of a B-Group comprising: '2 and 4 County Place and 1 Hospital Street'; '6 and 8 County Place and 3 and 5 Hospital Street'; 'Hospital Street, King Street and Albert Place, Former King James VI Hospital including Boundary Walls'; '3 King Street and 32 Canal Street'; '220 South Street and 17 Canal Street'; 'South Street, 189 (N. Side) and 70 Methven Street' and 'Methven Street, (South) 73-79 (Odd Numbers) & 1 County Place' (see separate listings).

This imposing four-storey corner block occupies a prominent site on South Street and Canal Crescent. Its Edwardian Rennaissance freestyle detailing is indicative of renowned Edinburgh based practice Dunn and Findlay's numerous commercial and residential commissions. Of particular note is the ogee dome and its gushet plan-form which anchors the building to its corner plot and groups well visually with others of a similar form on opposing corners at this key junction on the South side of the City between South Street/South Methven Street and Canal Crescent/King Street.

At ground level the architects designed the building to incorporate a corner public bar and three shops ranging E along South Street including one with a private stair leading to the first floor. The close entry and stair lead to the upper flats. The bank at ground floor extends into the first floor and was originally designed for use as a public house. The original drawings reveal that some of the room arrangements and architectural details were not implemented in the finished building. The kitchen and scullery on the first floor associated with the pub appears to have been intended to service the dining room and tea room, rather than for the landlord's use. The kitchens for the tenement above were unusually located directly below the dome.

List description updated at resurvey (2009).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17852538

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

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2