5 Regent Terrace Mews, Edinburgh

Regent Terrace Mews is a group of mews buildings laid out by William Playfair around 1825 and built gradually from the 1820s to the 1880s. The complex consists of two ranges of 2-storey mews housing facing each other across a cobbled lane: the South Range contains Nos 1–12, and the North Range (also called Royal Terrace Mews) contains Nos 13–22, making nine and ten buildings respectively.

The buildings are constructed of coursed snecked sandstone rubble with cream ashlar dressings to their front elevations. The rear elevations use predominantly coursed squared rubble to the upper courses and snecked rubble to the lower courses. A distinctive feature is the chamfered angle at the south-east corner of the Royal Mews at ground floor level, with a moulded skew leading to the first-floor angle.

South Range (Regent Terrace Mews)

The principal north-facing elevation displays considerable variety. Nos 1 and 2 have a timber-boarded door with rectangular fanlight and a later enlarged tripartite window to ground floor, with two irregular-sized windows to the first floor. No 3 has paired timber garage doors to the left and centre of the ground floor with an entrance door to the right; irregular-sized windows occupy the first floor. Nos 4–9 all feature semi-glazed or timber-boarded garage doors at ground level, with varied fenestration above. No 4 retains a timber-boarded hayloft door. Nos 10–12 present more elaborate arrangements: No 10 has 2-leaf timber-boarded garage doors to the left and a 2-leaf timber-boarded door to the right at ground floor, with a window, porthole window, and paired windows to the first floor. Nos 11 and 12 feature a timber-boarded door with 3-light fanlight at ground floor, 2-leaf timber-boarded garage doors to the centre and right, and four first-floor windows with dormer-headed windows breaking the eaves to the inner left and right, together with a wallhead stack at the centre.

The west elevation is a gabled end adjoining a rubble garden wall of Regent Gardens. The rear south-facing elevation is single-storey throughout, with varied fenestration including small square openings, barred windows, blocked bipartite openings, and windows of different sizes. Nos 11 and 12 are rendered with sandstone margins and feature two large barred windows breaking the eaves, positioned at the far left and right, with tall rendered wallhead stacks.

The east elevation is a gabled end with later garage doors to the ground floor and altered first-floor windows. A high rubble garden wall adjoins to the left, with a timber-boarded door providing access to the rear of the properties. The gablehead stack has been lowered.

North Range (Royal Terrace Mews)

The principal south-facing elevation shows similarly varied arrangements. Nos 13 and 14 have timber-boarded and glazed doors at ground floor with windows, and hayloft openings with glazed doors to the first floor. Nos 15 and 16 feature timber-boarded and glazed garage doors at ground floor and, prominently, a metal forestair with wrought iron balusters leading to a hayloft opening with timber-boarded and glazed door on the first floor. No 17 has a later recessed garage door and glass brick wall to the ground floor, with a hayloft door and small window above; a glazed ridge light crowns the roof. No 18 has semi-glazed garage doors and windows at ground floor, and to the first floor, four windows with a tripartite bay, paired windows breaking the eaves and rising into gables with pierced boarding, and shaped bargeboarding. Nos 19 and 20 have entrance and garage doors at ground floor with paired windows to the first floor. Nos 21 and 22 have paired semi-glazed timber garage doors and slightly lower semi-glazed 2-leaf timber doors at ground floor, with first-floor windows and a blind hayloft door.

The east elevation is a gabled end with paired timber garage doors and an adjacent semi-glazed entrance door at ground floor, three regularly-placed first-floor windows, and a gablehead stack.

The rear north-facing elevation is single-storey from Nos 13 to 17 and 2-storey from Nos 18 to 22. Openings vary considerably: doors, bipartite and glazed windows, dormer-headed windows breaking the eaves, and barred windows are distributed across the range. Rendered wallhead stacks appear at several points.

The west elevation is a gabled end adjoining the rubble garden wall of Regent Gardens.

Throughout both ranges, glazing patterns show considerable variety. Pitched grey slate roofs are finished with aluminium ridging, flashings, and valleys. Straight skews occur at dividing walls, and some mutual coped stacks survive.

Interior and Setting

The buildings have been remodelled internally to form housing, though some ground floors remain in use as garaging and workshops. A sloped cobbled lane with a central open rainwater drain divides the two rows of mews housing.