Albany Street Chapel, 24A Broughton Street, Edinburgh

This is a former chapel, dating from 1816, designed by David Skae. It is now used as building society offices, and stands in Edinburgh. The building is a classical design, constructed with two storeys and a basement, and has a five-bay principal elevation and a six-bay side elevation. The front elevation is distinguished by a projecting central bay and narrow flanking bays, with the bays to the outer left and right advanced in a tower-like form.

The principal elevation is constructed with polished ashlar, while the basement is of broached ashlar. The north-west elevation features V-jointed rustication at principal floor, with polished ashlar above and a rock-faced basement. The south-east elevation is of random rubble. Architectural details include a base course; band courses between the basement and principal floor, and between the principal floor and first floor; an impost band at the first floor of the north-west elevation; a cill course at the first floor of the north-west elevation; and a cornice at impost level, broken by the advanced bays at the first floor, continued as a cornice and blocking course to the north-west elevation.

A central, single-storey and basement porch is situated on the principal elevation, featuring a round-arched doorpiece with a pair of 12-panel timber doors and a semicircular fanlight. The porch is flanked by windows, which are in turn flanked by blind round-arched niches. A round-arched recess at the first floor contains a Venetian window with Ionic columnar mullions and a blind balustraded apron, flanked by round-arched windows with geometric-relief aprons, again flanked by blind round-arched niches. The central bay is topped by a corniced wallhead panel reading ‘ALBANY STREET CHAPEL, ERECTED A.D. 1816’, and the outer bays rise above the eaves with corniced square caps. The basement area is flagged.

The north-west elevation has a five-bay design grouped as 1, 4, with a slightly advanced arrangement. The fenestration is regular, including windows set within round-arched recesses at the principal floor. A blind round-arched recess on the principal floor between the outer left bay and the penultimate bay from the left contains a foliate pendant carving, with a foliate swag and patera above it at first floor level. A blind wallhead tablet spanning two bays crowns the penultimate bay from the right and the third bay from the right. The basement has irregular fenestration. The south-east elevation is largely blank, and the flagged basement area. The south-west elevation adjoins a terrace and is covered elsewhere (listed separately).

The windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case designs. The roof is covered with grey slate and features cast-iron rainwater goods. The building has a broached ashlar ridge stack topped with circular cans. The interior was not inspected in 1998 and has been converted to offices in the later 20th century. Cast-iron railings with decorative finials and urn finials are set on ashlar copes, flanking a gate to the left of the principal elevation.