Fountainbridge Public Library, 137 Dundee Street, Edinburgh

Fountainbridge Public Library, located at 137 Dundee Street in Edinburgh, is a two-storey and attic inter-war Modern library designed by John AW Grant between 1937 and 1940. The building features a rectangular plan with a corner tower and incorporates Art Nouveau and Art Deco details. It is constructed from coursed sandstone ashlar, has a steel frame with reinforced concrete floors, and rendered brick at the rear. Notable architectural elements include a cill course, a deep cornice between the first floor and attic, and a flat roof.

The corner tower at the intersection of Dundee Street and Murdoch Terrace has an engaged three-bay canted stair and entrance. It features stylised architraves around the openings, with steps leading to a central doorway that has recessed panelled doors and a carved decorative panel by Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson. Flanking lamps and a wrought-iron balcony above the strip window enhance its design, along with a decorative cast-iron panel between the first floor and attic and three small square lights below the parapet. The flanking bays mirror this design, with the exception of two windows at ground level.

On the northeast elevation facing Murdoch Terrace, there are doorways to the outer left and right, with strip windows above. Giant order pilasters flank a glazed screen wall that features decorative cast-iron panels between the floors, and there are five single windows in the attic. The northwest elevation facing Dundee Street is similar to the northeast elevation but lacks the doorways and has four recessed panels to the left below the ground-level windows. The southwest elevation, facing Yeaman Lane, has large tripartite windows on the ground and first floors in the outer left bay, along with three single windows in the attic. The tripartite windows are flanked by single windows on both floors in the outer right bay.

The library features small-pane bronze-plated steel windows and a lead roof with glazed cupolas. Inside, there are granolithic floors and panelling, coffered ceilings, and a mezzanine added in 1994. A glazed screen separates the library from the hall, and there is a polygonal staircase with a timber reception desk and office. The interior retains original fittings for an internal suction message system and includes a salvaged plaque from Nelson Hall.