Edinburgh, 2 Gilmore Park, Former North British Rubber Company, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Description

1877-1894. 2-storey and basement with taller section to west, 16-bay, curved L-plan former office premises of the North British Rubber Company. Advanced basement; pilasters dividing bays; cornice to rounded corner bay at south east corner of Gilmore Park; predominantly segmental arched openings. Overpainted polychrome brickwork.

NORTHEAST (GILMORE PARK) ELEVATION: 16-bay, grouped 2-4-7 with 3-bay bowed section to outer right. Blocked door to left, arched window to right at ground in advanced single bay to outer left; bipartite window at 1st floor. Bipartite windows at ground and 1st floors in two bays to left of 4-bay section; single windows at ground and 1st floors in two bays to right. Ashlar doorpiece with keystone and elaborate cornice to outer left of 7 bay section; bipartite window aligned above; basement and single window in adjacent bay to right; basement and bipartite windows at ground and 1st floors in adjacent bay to right. Basement and regular single window fenestration to remaining bays. 3 bays to outer right form bow with Fountainbridge elevation.

NORTHWEST (FOUNTAINBRIDGE) ELEVATION: 5-bay, with 3-bay bowed section to outer left. Regular single window fenestration at ground and 1st floors within recessed arches of 5-bay section to outer right. Boarded timber door at ground with corbelled canopy in bay to outer left, window above is slightly smaller. Recessed boarded timber entrance at ground to outer right in 3-bay bowed section to outer left; regular fenestration at basement, ground and 1st floors.

Predominantly 4 pane timber sash and case windows, 16 pane to north east elevation. Grey slate piended roof; corniced brick wallhead stacks. Cast iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: Part of good interior decorative scheme dating from 1916 survives. It includes panelled entrance hall with painted marble effect metal columns, dentilled cornice, decorative linoleum floor and paired glazed timber screens to side corridors. Open squared staircase with cross pattern decorative wrought-iron balustrade and timber handrail; rectangular cupola with cornice detailing over. First floor corridor suite of panelled timber offices and boardroom including some integral fireplace surrounds (inserts removed 2014).

Statement of Interest

The North British Rubber Company Office Building is the only surviving element of a once large and important 19th century industrial complex in this area of Edinburgh. At the height of its industrial output the company was internationally renowned, exporting products around the world. The building is also a rare example in the area of a building of 19th century polychrome brickwork. The partial interior decorative scheme dates to 1916 and is a rare surviving example of an interior decorative scheme of the period to be built in Edinburgh. This is because of the lack of buildings constructed in the area during World War One and it is also unusual to be within in an earlier industrial building.

The building is a later 19th century multiphase industrial building to the corner of open ground in a formerly industrial area of Edinburgh. The Ordnance Survey map of 1851 shows a 'Silk Mill' on the site. The North British Rubber Company (NBRC) took over the site from the silk mill in 1856 and oversaw several periods of building expansion.

The earliest (circa 1875) block to the south was originally built as a workshop with large windows on all sides to allow natural light into the workshop spaces. By the OS map of 1877 the industrial complex was renamed 'Castle Mills' and had expanded in size. By the OS map of 1894 the remainder of the building had been constructed. The NBRC ceased to trade in the late 1960s and from circa 1973 the site was run by the Scottish and Newcastle Brewery and continued to be an important industrial employer in this part of Edinburgh. The majority of the buildings on site have been demolished in the last few years leaving the former office building as the only surviving built element on site (2014).

In 1916 NBRC expanded its production due to the demand for rubber soled boots required for the army in the World War One. At this time the workshop section was converted to form the main business entrance and office building with a new stone pedimented entrance doorway to Gilmore Park and internally a stone stair and boardroom suite of offices with timber panelled detailing.

The NBRC was Scotland's oldest rubber company and over the years it was in production it exported a variety of rubber products all over the world, from small domestic products such as hot water bottles to supplying pit conveyor belts to Russian mines. Its most significant contributions to industry include the production of both the vulcanised tyres in 1875 and the invention of detachable pneumatic tyres in 1890, the forerunner of modern tyres. The company was also significant for producing high quality rubber boots for World War One and various rubber based products for combat in the Second World War. At its height it was the largest industrial site in Edinburgh, occupying over 20 acres and employing over 3,000 people.

Listed Building Record and Statutory Address updated 2014. Previously listed as 'Gilmore Park and Fountainbridge, Former British Rubber Company Ltd'.

External Links

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