45-49 Great King Street, Edinburgh

45-49 Great King Street, Edinburgh

A monumental classical palace block terrace designed by Robert Reid and William Sibbald, built between 1814 and 1823. The building comprises three storeys with basement, organised as a 59-bay composition: a 9-bay central pavilion with 3-storey attic and basement, flanked by two 18-bay blocks, themselves flanked by 7-bay terminal pavilions of matching height. The principal north elevation is constructed of sandstone ashlar, with polished V-jointed rustication to the principal floor, broached ashlar to the upper floors, and rock-faced rustication to the basement. A continuous cornice runs across the elevation, returned and terminated at corners; the central and terminal pavilions are marked by blocking courses with wallhead panels at the centre, while cill courses define the 1st and 2nd floors. Ashlar steps and entrance platforms overhang the basement.

The central pavilion is organised as a 9-bay composition. Its centrepiece advances slightly and is marked by Ionic pilasters between bays at the 1st and 2nd floors. The bays to outer left and right also advance and are similarly flanked by Ionic pilasters. Blind balustraded aprons fill the spandrels of the centrepiece and outer bays at 1st floor. Windows to the ground floor sit within round-arched panels. Flush panelled doors occupy the left bay of the centrepiece and the outer bays, each with a semicircular fanlight; the centre door and left door have plate glass, while the right door has radial fanlight panes. The central window and windows flanking it at 1st floor are pedimented with consoles; the flanking windows are corniced with consoles. A semicircular window is centred at attic level. The basement opens onto a flagged area with rubble walls and predominantly vertically boarded timber doors to the cellars.

On either side of the central pavilion are two linking blocks of 6 three-bay houses, mirrored on each side. These have flush panelled doors with rectangular fanlights; to the east of the central pavilion one door is positioned in the right bay at ground level, while to the west one is in the left bay at ground level. At No. 16, the 1st floor cill was lowered in the earlier 19th century and fitted with a contemporary cast-iron balcony. Fenestration to the floors above is regular. These blocks also have flagged basement areas with rubble walls and vertically boarded timber cellar doors.

The two terminal pavilions form a near-mirrored pair. Each comprises a 3-bay centrepiece with Ionic pilasters dividing the bays at 1st and 2nd floors, marked by blind balustrade aprons at 1st floor. The centre bay windows at 1st floor are pedimented with consoles, while flanking bay windows are corniced with consoles. The western pavilion has a flush panelled door with plate glass and an umbrella-form semicircular fanlight; the eastern pavilion has one with plate glass and a radial semicircular fanlight. Ionic pilasters also flank the central three bays at 1st and 2nd floors across the full width of each terminal pavilion. The western terminal pavilion has a common stair door centred at ground level, flanked by two doors, which are themselves flanked by windows in round-arched panels; regular fenestration continues to the floors above. The eastern terminal pavilion has a door converted to a window at right; windows fill the bays to the left, while blind windows occupy the bays to the right, all set in round-arched panels; regular fenestration continues to the floors above, though a blind window appears in the penultimate bay to the right at 1st floor. Semicircular windows are centred at attic level in both pavilions. Both have flagged basement areas with vertically boarded timber cellar doors.

The return elevation to Howe Street, on the western side, comprises a 7-bay block with its central 3 bays advanced, forming 39 and 39A Howe Street. A 4-panel timber door with rectangular fanlight is positioned in the penultimate bay from the right at principal floor level. Windows fill the remaining bays at principal floor and to the floors above. Ionic pilasters flank the central 3 bays at 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors. A corniced wallhead tablet spans the central three bays. Cast-iron window guards protect the 1st floor aprons and 3rd floor windows, except in the penultimate bay from the right. A flagged basement area runs along the base.

The return elevation to Dundas Street, on the eastern side, comprises a 4-bay block (grouped as 1, 2, 1), forming 38-50 Dundas Street. Doors occupy the central bays, with a radial semicircular fanlight to the right and a rectangular fanlight to the left. Shop entrances occupy the outer bays: to the outer right is a door with rectangular fanlight and window, and to the outer left is a door with rectangular fanlight and window. A large shouldered wallhead stack stands to the right of centre.

Throughout the building, windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case, though some employ plate glass or 4-pane configurations. The roof is of grey slate in an M-profile. Rainwater goods are of cast iron.

The chimneystack work is predominantly of broached ashlar, including several restored stacks, though some are rendered. Stacks are coped with circular cans. Ashlar skew copes finish the gables.

Within the principal floors, notable interior features include an oval ceiling design at No. 53 and a Tudor fan vault with pendant, together with a 4-centred archway, in the hall at No. 77.

The parapets are finished with ashlar copes surmounted by cast-iron railings with spear-headed balusters and urn finials. Cast-iron lamps mounted on the railings have glass globes.

Mews buildings to the rear are located in Northumberland Street and North West Lane.

Nos. 3 and 5 form a pair of mews buildings with south-facing principal elevations. No. 5 (Kingfisher Gallery) is a 3-bay structure with a modern glazed door centred at ground level, flanked by a window and small-pane light to the left and outer left; cement-rendered infill and a modern glazed door to the right occupy a former carriage opening, topped with a stone lintel. At attic level, windows are present in the bays, with Velux windows providing additional light. No. 3 adjoins No. 5 to the right and comprises 5 bays. A modern door is set in the penultimate bay from the right at ground level, while modern garage doors fill the remaining bays at ground level beneath a cement-rendered lintel. A window rises at the left at attic level, and a timber gabled dormer-headed window breaks the eaves to the right; timber barge boards finish the gable. A much-altered mews building adjoins to the right.

No. 1A is a single-storey mews building with a piended roof and a predominantly blank south-facing principal elevation, which features a 4-panel timber door with plate glass fanlight positioned at right.

An unidentified Gifford Mews comprises a 2-storey, 3-bay mews building with south-facing principal elevation. A 6-panel timber door with 5-pane fanlight is centred at ground level, flanked to the right by 2-leaf vertically boarded garage doors set under a stone lintel. A window appears to the left, with additional windows occupying the bays at 1st floor. Round-arched vertically boarded openings complete the scheme.