Leith Walk Primary School, Brunswick Road, Edinburgh

Leith Walk Primary School is a large Gothic revival building designed by W L Moffat and Aitken in 1875-6, with a cruciform extension to the rear added by Robert Wilson in 1885 and further additions by J Carfrae in 1903. The building sits on sloping ground and is constructed of squared, snecked, tooled sandstone with a chamfered base course and corbel table to the eaves.

The main building is symmetrical and of complex E-plan form, rising to 2, 3, and 4 storeys with advanced gables to the outer left, right, and centre, and large buttressed pyramidal roofed towers to the flanks. Fenestration is predominantly regular with relieving arches and splayed cills, and predominantly shouldered bipartite windows throughout.

The northeast principal elevation features a central 2-storey advanced gable containing two tripartite stepped windows with hoodmoulds to the ground floor. The first floor holds a tripartite window in a pointed overarch with cinquefoil tracery, flanked by bipartite windows in pointed overarches with trefoil tracery, all under continuous hoodmould. The gable itself contains an Edinburgh School Board sculpture titled 'Education' in a pointed overarch. Flanking this central gable are recessed 2-storey sections with stepped hoodmoulded tripartite windows to the ground floor and dormer-headed stepped tripartite windows to the first floor with blind trefoils above. The outer left and right gables are advanced single-bay elements (3-storey to the left, 3-storey with basement to the right), each with 4 windows to the ground floor, truncated string courses between ground and first floors, 3 windows to the first floor, and stepped tripartite windows with truncated cill courses to the second floor. The ground and first floor cill courses are continuous across the central gable and flanking sections, with buttresses to the ground floor dividing the bays. To the sides of the outer gables are recessed 3-storey side elevations containing towers, each with 2-leaf timber-boarded doors in pointed arched moulded door surrounds to the ground floor. Carved banners above these doors bear the words 'GIRLS AND INFANTS' to the southeast door and 'BOYS' to the northwest door. Blind arrow slits occupy the upper floors, with a single window to the second floor.

The northwest side elevation is a 5-bay elevation with an advanced 4-storey tower occupying the second bay from the left; the remainder is 3 storeys. To the left of the tower, the ground floor is blank with 4 windows to the first floor and 3 windows to the first floor of the next bay. The tower contains a 2-leaf timber-boarded door in a pointed arched opening flanked by blocked windows to the ground floor, with flanking buttresses. The first and second floors of the tower have 3 windows each, set in a recessed giant overarch. Between the second and third floors sits a string course and corbelled gabled bell canopy, with a blind quatrefoil frieze below the eaves. To the right of the tower, a 2-leaf timber-panelled door with a 2-light fanlight occupies the ground floor.

The southwest rear elevation is predominantly 3-storey, with an advanced 3-bay central section flanked to left and right by recessed 5-bay sections (3-bay to the second floor). The first and second floors of the central section and second floor of the flanking sections contain larger windows, probably added in 1903. To the outer left is a 2-bay advanced gable with a modern single-storey extension to the ground floor and a modern gable-end stack dividing the bays. To the outer right is the greatly advanced 1885 extension, which is 2-storey with a 2-bay gabled central section flanked by a 3-bay section to the left (2-storey to the right bay, single storey to the centre and left bays) and a 3-bay, 2-storey section with nepus gable to the right. Various linked modern single-storey buildings are attached to the rear.

The southeast side elevation features an advanced gable to the outer left, a 4-bay section to the centre, an advanced 3-storey tower to the right, and a 2-bay section to the outer right. A string course runs between the ground and first floors to the sections to the left of the tower. The outer left gable contains 3 windows to the ground floor and a single window to the first floor. The 4-bay central section has a dormer-headed window to the first floor at the second bay from the left. The tower contains a 2-leaf timber-boarded door in a pointed arched opening with a fanlight above, flanked by windows and buttresses to the ground floor. The first floor has 3 windows, all recessed under an overarch, with a stepped string course and blank panel between the first and second floors. The second floor contains 3 windows, with a blind quatrefoil frieze below the eaves.

The glazing throughout the original sections consists predominantly of a mixture of 6-, 8-, and 10-pane glazing in tilt and turn and hopper timber windows. The 1885 extension contains a mixture of 6-, 8-, 9-, 10-, and 15-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, while the 1903 alterations feature 28-pane timber sash and case windows.

The roofing is predominantly pitched with graded grey slate, stone skews and scrolled skewputts, and fleur-de-lys stone finials to the apexes of the gables. The towers have pyramidal roofs and lead ball finials, while the 1903 alterations have concealed roofs. The northeast elevation features flat-roofed dormer windows to each pitch of the central gable. Most stacks are concealed; those visible include corniced ridge stacks to the original building and a corbelled shouldered wall-end stack with circular cans to the 1885 extension. Distinctive cast-iron rainwater rhones, hoppers, and downpipes feature throughout.

The boundary walls are predominantly of random rubble with saddleback coping to the rear. The southeast wall is of snecked, squared rubble with saddleback coping and square gatepiers with chamfered corners, base, and near-pyramidal caps. The northeast wall is of snecked, squared rubble with chamfered coping surmounted by a mixture of cast-iron and modern railings, with some roll-moulded coping to the higher sections. There are two pairs of gatepiers with chamfered corners and caps to this wall.

Adjacent to the main building is a single-storey, L-plan Gothic lodge of squared, snecked, tooled sandstone with a chamfered base course (excluding the rear elevation). The fenestration is predominantly regular with shouldered windows and chamfered cills; all windows were boarded up as of 2003.

The lodge's northeast principal elevation is a 3-bay composition with an advanced single-bay gable to the left containing a bipartite window with truncated string course and blind trefoil above. To the right are a shouldered doorway and window. The southeast side elevation is a 2-bay elevation with an advanced gable to the left containing 3 windows and a truncated string course and blind trefoil above. The southwest rear elevation is a 3-bay elevation with 3 bipartite windows. The northwest side elevation is blank, forming part of the boundary wall.

The lodge has pitched roofs with stone skews, scrolled skewputts, and fleur-de-lys apex finials. A corniced ridge stack occupies the northeast elevation, while a shouldered wall-end stack with cornice and trefoil parapet sits on the southwest elevation. Some cast-iron rainwater goods remain.