32A Castle Street, Edinburgh

This is a large, three-storey classical corner tenement building dating from around 1785, with later alterations and additions. It was originally built for the Equity and Law Life Assurance Society and has been converted to offices, incorporating shops at the corner. The building is constructed of cream sandstone ashlar with polished dressings, which have been stonecleaned.

The east elevation is divided into two distinct five-bay blocks. The eastern block features a modern polished granite shopfront which is canted at the corners. The windows have architraves with cornices at the first floor level. A mutuled cornice runs along the second floor, and an eaves cornice and blocking course mark the later addition of a fourth storey. The upper floors are framed by long and short quoins. The western block is faced with scabbled ashlar (formerly droved). The left bay has a corniced architraved doorway leading to the common stair at number 108, incorporating a two-leaf panelled door and a modern radiating fanlight above. The window above is plain. The right bays have architraved windows, corniced at the ground and first floors. A pilastered doorpiece centres a bay with a glazed door and carved radiating fanlight. A plain moulded eaves cornice runs along the top. Three copper-clad box dormers are visible.

The Castle Street elevation is four storeys high, with an irregular six-bay facade. The inner right bay has blind windows. A modern shopfront extends to the three bays on the right; a mid-19th century shopfront with cornices and a canted angle to the left has been sub-divided. The top storey is a later addition, featuring a gabled stack, eaves cornice, and blocking course.

The windows are timber sash and case, with plate glass on the east side and 12-pane sashes on the west. Ashlar coped skews are present, along with rendered stacks and grey slate roofs.

The interiors have been modernised within the shops. The common stair at number 108 provides access to the upper floors. The western block contains bow-ended former dining rooms on each floor to the rear west, each with a tripartite window. Number 110 is the main entrance flat and includes a stair to the basement. The interior has undergone significant alterations, but panelled dados and later plaster-panelled walls remain. The first-floor flat has panelled dados and a later stair to the second floor, featuring a Corinthian pilastered sideboard recess. The second-floor flat is similar, with a grey marble chimney piece in the former dining room, the former drawing room has been subdivided, and a further stair leads to a similar attic flat, which has a fluted chimney piece.

Cast-iron spearhead railings remain in the western basement area, and a pair of wrought-iron lamp standards are located on the principal platt.