Dunoon Primary School And Janitor's House

Dunoon Primary School and Janitor’s House was built between 1899 and 1901 by William Fraser, with additions in 1907 by Boston, Menzies and Morton, and a gymnasium wing in 1934 by Robert Cameron. It is a two-storey and attic, 13-bay building in a Free style, incorporating Baronial and Gothic detailing. The school is constructed of cement render with exposed sandstone ashlar long and short quoins and margins, featuring a base course and string courses, moulded to the first floor, with some hoodmoulding. The windows are mullioned and transomed, with bipartite and single lights, and some round-arched windows with cinquefoil heads on the first floor. Bracketed eaves and applied half-timbering to gable apexes at the sides and rear are present.

The prominent central tower is castellated over four stages. The principal north-west elevation is nearly symmetrical, with a pointed-arch, two-leaf timber door with glazed vesica panels set within a deeply recessed hoodmoulded surround, flanked by diagonal buttresses. The first floor features round-headed windows, while the second floor has arrow slits. A modillion cornice is situated between tourelles that corbel out at the third stage. Flanking advanced gable bays include projecting central sections and distinctive Venetian Gothic arched windows in the attic. Shallow pointed-arch openings lead to pends in the recessed outer bays.

The south-east rear elevation has nine bays, with an advanced gabled bay to the left and a Venetian Gothic arched window in the gablehead. A two-storey, four-bay, pitched-roofed projecting wing is located to the right of centre. The 1907 north-east wing is a two-storey, T-plan structure with a piend roof and Mackintosh-inspired detailing, featuring a base course, string courses, and a pair of shouldered gables to the north elevation.

Internally, the school features steel stairs with decorative cast-iron balusters, timber panelling and tiling to the dado, and a timber trussed roof to the assembly hall. The Janitor’s House is a single-storey and attic cottage adjoining the school, with a two-storey projecting canted window with a dentilled eaves cornice. It has a distinctive piended roof extending over the porch and is constructed with rendered masonry and exposed ashlar dressings. The windows are a mix of multi-pane upper sashes and plate glass lower sashes, set in timber sash and case frames. Grey slate covers the roofs, and cast iron rainwater goods are in place.