18 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh

William H Playfair, designed 1824-1826; Nos 4-14 Montgomery Street built circa 1826; Nos 16-26 Montgomery Street built circa 1864; Nos 28-32 Montgomery Street and Nos 28-30 Windsor Street, built circa 1881. Polished ashlar; droved to basement; predominantly squared coursed rubble with dressed margins to rear. 3-storey basement and attic, long range to Montgomery Street with quadrant corner to shorter range to Windsor Street. Base course; dividing band between basement and ground floors; cill course to 1st and 2nd floors; band course and main cornice dividing 2nd and attic floors; eaves cornice and blocking course. Regular fenestration; to ground floor, sunken aprons (panelled to Windsor Street and corner elevation); architraves to ground, 1st, 2nd and attic floors to Windsor Street and corner elevations.

N (MONTGOMERY STREET) ELEVATION: 29-bay (30 bays to ground floor) elevation. To basement, to 3rd, 5th and 7th bays from right, steps leading down to 2-leaf timber and glazed doors; areas beneath platts blocked in by combinations of glazing and walls. To ground floor: to 4th, 6th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th bays from left, steps and platts (predominantly supported by cast-iron beams except for 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th from left) overarching basement, leading to timber-panelled doors (2-leaf to 23rd and 25th bays) with rectangular fanlights (2-pane to 11th, 12th, 13th and 19th bays; multi-pane to 27th bay; replaced by louvre to 29th bay); to 20th, 21st and 22nd bays, basket-arched opening to pend.

NE (CORNER) ELEVATION: 2-bay, very slightly recessed quadrant elevation.

E (WINDSOR STREET) ELEVATION: 7-bay elevation. To ground floor, to 3rd and 6th bays from left, steps and platts overarching basement, leading to timber-panelled doors with rectangular fanlights.

GLAZING etc: to Windsor Street elevation, corner elevation, 1st '22nd bays from left to Montgomery Street elevation and rear elevation above and to right of pend, predominantly 4-pane glazing; to 23rd-29th/ 30th bays from left to Montgomery Street and to rear to left of pend, predominantly 12-pane glazing; glazing predominantly in timber sash and case windows. M-pitched roof; grey slate; stone skews and skewputts. To Montgomery Street elevation, 10 corniced ashlar ridge stacks (2 to far right preceded by individual octagonal flues); to Windsor Street elevation, 2 ashlar ridge stacks preceded by individual octagonal flues; to S gable, 2 corniced gablehead stacks; predominantly circular cans to all stacks.

RAILINGS: edging basement recess and platts, cast-iron railings with spear-head finials, spear-headed dog bars; hexagonal patterned top border to railings to 4-14 Montgomery Street; circular patterned border to railings to 16-20 Montgomery Street.