Chemistry Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh is a Grade B listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 3 July 1986. School.
Chemistry Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh
- WRENN ID
- roaming-railing-foxglove
- Grade
- B
- Local Planning Authority
- City of Edinburgh
- Constituency
- Edinburgh East and Musselburgh MP: Chris Murray (Lab)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 3 July 1986
- Type
- School
- Address
- Chemistry Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EQ
- OS grid reference
- NT 253 732
- Coordinates
- 55.94606, -3.19631
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
The Chemistry Block at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh was designed by John Anderson in 1911. This long, symmetrical building is three stories high and has 13 bays, showcasing Scots Renaissance and Jacobean architectural styles. It features two-bay end pavilions, a central oriel window, and an arcaded ground floor that has since been filled in. The exterior is constructed from coursed sandstone ashlar, with rubble used on the sides and rear. Notable architectural details include a base course on the pavilions, a moulded dividing course between the ground and first floors, a cill course on the main block and pavilions, and a stepped parapet above the oriel that includes loopholes on the pavilions. The building also has buckle quoins and aedicular windows adorned with strapwork pediments.
On the principal elevation, the facade is regularly fenestrated, with the center bay slightly advanced. It features a two-leaf timber panelled door topped with a decorative sunburst fanlight set in a round-arched opening, which includes a bust of Heriot in the keystone. This door is flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters on pedestals and is topped with a dentilled cornice. Above this, there is a two-storey oriel window with a heraldic panel above the first-floor window and a bell-cast leaded roof.
The southeast elevation includes a timber panelled door with a six-pane fanlight, set in a moulded surround with a segmental pediment featuring strapwork decoration at the center, flanked by two windows. The first and second floors contain five windows.
The rear elevation features piend-roofed advanced outer bays with a parapet that steps at the corners and a central loophole, with a blind window to the right and four windows on the upper floor to the left. The advanced center block has a tall chimney to the right and is irregularly fenestrated.
The building is fitted with small-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, except for the arcade. It has a piended grey slate roof and cast-iron downpipes with decorative hoppers. The south wallhead is adorned with three tall, decoratively corniced fluted chimney stacks.
Local climate
Chemistry Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- Preparatory Department, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh
- 6, 8, 10 Keir Street, Edinburgh
- 5 Brown's Place, The Vennel, Edinburgh
- Examination Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Art College Annexe, The Vennel, Grassmarket, Edinburgh
- Science Block, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh
- 28, 30, 32 Keir Street, Edinburgh
- 28, 30, 32 Keir Street, Edinburgh
- Main Building, George Heriot's School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh
- 21, 23, 25 Grassmarket, Edinburgh