Albyn School, 21 Queen's Road, Aberdeen

Albyn School, 21 Queen's Road, Aberdeen

Built in 1884 by builder John Sangster, this is a 2-storey villa with basement and attic storeys, arranged in an L-plan across 3 bays with Italianate detailing. The building is constructed in tooled coursed granite ashlar with finely finished dressings to the north-west elevation; the remainder is in Aberdeen bond granite. A rough-faced granite base course runs across the building, with a ground floor cill course and long and short raised dressings to the first floor. The eaves are bracketed and overhanging, topped with iron finials to the gable apexes.

The principal north-west elevation is nearly symmetrical. At ground floor, a central doorway reached by stone steps is flanked by paired pilasters, partly fluted with mannered capitals, with side lights and a 2-leaf elaborately panelled timber door with letterbox fanlight. Above this at first floor is a bipartite window, and at attic floor a bipartite rectangular dormer. To the right sits an open pedimented gable with a 3-light bowed pilastered window at ground floor and a round-arched bipartite window at first floor, with a blind tablet in the gablehead. A matching open pedimented gable on the left contains a pilastered tripartite rectangular-plan window advanced to ground floor with windows to left and right returns, a round-arched bipartite window at first floor, and a blind tablet in the gablehead. Rectangular dormers light the attic floor.

The south-west elevation is asymmetrical, featuring an open pedimented gablet to an advanced centre bay with narrow stained glass windows to left and right returns at ground and first floors. A 1962 addition obscures the ground floor of the centre bay and a recessed bay to the right.

The south-east elevation is also asymmetrical. An advanced bay to the right contains a glazed timber door flanked by 2 windows at basement level, and tripartite windows at ground and first floors. To the left are 2 recessed bays; a single window to the centre of the basement floor, a former tripartite window to ground floor with doorway to the right pane, and a tall stained glass tripartite stair window above. The flanking bay to the left has tripartite windows at each floor. Three regularly spaced bipartite piend-roofed dormers light the attic floor. A 1962 hall addition adjoins to the outer left.

The north-east elevation has a gablet to the right with an inset window, a modern link to 19 Queen's Road at the centre, and irregular openings to the left.

The roof is grey slate with piended slopes and lead ridges. Corniced wallheads and ridge stacks support cast-iron rainwater goods. The majority of windows are 2-pane timber sash and case.

The interior retains fine architectural detailing. Mouldings, panelled timber doors, door and window architraves and cornices are largely intact. A pilastered panelled 2-leaf inner door features textured glass upper panels and a fanlight. The timber panelled hall contains an elaborate mosaic floor and boarded and panelled ceilings, with an Ionic columned and pilastered screen. A decorative timber chimneypiece with inset tiles and mirrored overmantle stands opposite a recessed bench. Half-fluted pilasters frame the entablatured doorways to flanking rooms. A broad staircase with turned balusters and textured wallpaper below the dado rises beside an elaborate stained glass window. The principal rooms have pilastered windows and coffered ceilings. Depressed-arched recesses at ground and first floor levels on the west side contain tall stained glass windows to their inside returns.

An ancillary single-storey and attic structure to the south-west, probably former stables and hayloft, is entered from Queen's Lane South. The coursed granite is finely finished to the margins. A boarded timber door to the south elevation is flanked to the right by 3 horizontal openings with decorative iron mesh, and a boarded timber doorway breaks the eaves above, with windows flanking to the left. Stone steps on the west elevation lead to a panelled timber door flanked by a window breaking the eaves, with a lean-to addition to the left. This structure has a piended grey slate roof with lead ridges and overhanging eaves, coped wallhead stacks with circular cans, and cast-iron rainwater goods.

Gatepiers and boundary walls are shared with 17, 19 and 23 Queen's Road. Low square-plan granite ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal caps stand to the north-west, flanked by rough-faced granite walls with ashlar coping. A tall pier on Forest Avenue is surmounted by an urn. Granite and brick coped rubble walls enclose the remainder.

A 1962 entrance fronting a hall, gym and changing rooms was added; these ancillary structures are not included in the listing. Later additions and alterations have been made to the building.