West Lodge, Edinburgh Academy, 48 Henderson Row, Edinburgh

This group of ancillary buildings, dating from the early 19th to mid 20th century, forms part of the Edinburgh Academy site (Listed Building Reference LB27973), which was built between 1823 and 1836 as an independent school to designs by William Burn. Located on the northern edge of Edinburgh's New Town, the main Academy building is set back from the street with a large open forecourt to the front (south). The main building forms the centrepiece around which these various ancillary structures are positioned.

West Lodge

The low two-storey, three-bay West Lodge (formerly the Janitor's Lodge, now reception) is L-shaped on plan and located in the southwest corner of the site. It was built as part of Burn's original scheme between 1823 and 1836, and originally formed a matching pair with the lodge to the east (now replaced; see East Lodge). The main (east) elevation fronts the forecourt with a slated porch to the re-entrant angle, carried on an iron column. The walls are coursed and squared rubble with tooled rybats, margin drafts and dressed cills. The shallow, half-piended slate roof has deep overhanging timber eaves and two rendered chimneystacks. The windows are multi-paned timber sashes with small timber casements to the upper floor. The two-bay south elevation fronts Henderson Row, abutted by the boundary wall to the east. The rear (west) elevation forms part of the western boundary wall of the site, and the north elevation is abutted by the Classroom Block (south).

The interior layout has been partially altered and comprises two principal rooms on each floor, accessed from a narrow central stair with ancillary rooms to the rear of the ground floor. The internal decorative scheme is largely plain and dates from the 20th century, except for the early timber stair which has cast iron balusters with a feather motif and a steeply raked timber handrail.

East Lodge

The two-storey, three-bay East Lodge (formerly the Master's Lodge) was built in a simple Italianate/Renaissance Revival style in 1924 by R.S. Reid of Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid. It replaced the original east lodge, designed by William Burn, which was destroyed by fire. Different in design and style to the original lodge, it is rectangular on plan with a later lean-to addition to the side (north) elevation. The walls are coursed and dressed rubble with a moulded eaves course and ashlar dressings. The main (west) elevation is symmetrically arranged with a pair of tripartite windows flanking a balconied central porch, carried on fluted consoles and a projecting door surround. The four-bay south elevation fronts Henderson Row with a tripartite upper window set in a pedimented ashlar gable. The piended slate roof has a cupola to the flat southeast corner. The windows are multi-paned timber sliding sashes.

The internal layout and fabric have been partially altered, linking the lodge to the ground floor of the tenement to the east at No. 42 Henderson Row (Listed Building Reference LB29022). The interior comprises a central dog-legged stair lit by a cupola, with principal rooms on either side. Decorative features include moulded architraves and fluted cornices with some rosettes to the cupola. There are inbuilt timber cupboards and a carved timber and dressed stone fire surround to the principal first floor room.

Library

The single-storey, rectangular-plan Library abuts the boundary walls on the eastern side of the forecourt and is built of rock-faced ashlar with smooth ashlar dressings. Neo-classical in style, the advancing square-plan central bay dates from 1899 and was designed by Leadbetter and Fairlie. It has a square-plan cupola to the piended slate roof and a projecting pedimented entrance to the front (west) elevation. The lugged entrance door is flanked by commemorative plaques, including a clock (inscribed 1916) to the tympanum above and a bell to the north. The lower three-bay symmetrical wings were added in 1930 by R.S. Reid, with key-blocked tripartite windows to the advancing end bays. The windows are multi-paned timber sash and case.

The interior comprises three large rooms running from north to south. The central room is lit by a cupola, with decorative modillioned cornices. The walls throughout are lined with inbuilt timber shelving and cupboards. There are moulded timber architraves to the openings and a lugged architrave with a timber fanlight to the main entrance door from the porch. A round-headed arcade subdivides the room to the south, carried on timber-clad pilasters and lit to the rear by a circular cupola. The room to the north has an early 21st-century glass screen and doors.

War Memorial Building

Built between 1922 and 1923, the Greek Revival War Memorial Building by R.S. Reid is located to the northwest of the main Academy building. The single-storey over basement, five-bay main (south) elevation has a central entrance approached by a flight of stone steps, framed by a projecting portico of paired, unfluted Greek Doric columns and entablature topped by a blocking course inscribed 'PRO PATRIA'. The entrance is flanked by recessed war memorial panels framed by matching columns and stiff-leafed garlands. The walls are ashlar sandstone with horizontal channelling to the lower level of the main elevation and painted roughcast render to the remainder. There is a piended slate roof with glazed skylights, double-leaf timber panelled doors with cross-motif glazing. There are large square-headed metal windows to the ground floor of the north elevation, with semi-circular windows to the first floor. Iron railings front the main elevation with a cross motif and a Greek key to the square piers.

The interior layout remains largely unchanged and comprises an open-plan gymnasium on the upper level, with two large north-facing workshops and ancillary rooms below. There is an arched steel truss roof to the gymnasium with some Doric details, timber-lined walls, gymnastic apparatus and high-level semi-circular windows. The workshop spaces below are accessed via stone steps from the main corridor to the south, and have hard, plain finishes with structural metal beams and columns exposed, and a solid floor.

Fives Courts

Dating from around 1898, the single-storey Fives Courts are located against the northern boundary of the site and sit at a lower level to the main buildings. The walls are red brick, with timber panelling and louvered ventilators to the apex of the gables. The pitched timber roof structure, with felt covering, has a large overhang to the south creating a covered walkway accessing each of the courts. The main (south) elevation has modern timber decking and wire mesh screens, while the remaining elevations are red brick. The interior has plain painted walls to the courts with exposed timber roof structure above.

Dining Hall

Dated 1912, the Dining Hall was built to designs by A.F. Balfour Paul and is located to the northwest of the main Academy building. It has two storeys over a basement with five bays on the ground floor of the main (south) elevation. Roughly rectangular on plan, the east elevation is abutted by lower flat-roofed ranges, including a five-bay bowed window and a screen wall that connects to the main Academy building. The single-storey, flat-roofed abutment to the northwest was added in 1922. The main (south) elevation of the Dining Hall is built of ashlar sandstone (rendered and painted brick to the north, east and west elevations) and has Italianate/Renaissance Revival details, including a deep modillioned balcony and balustrade, and elaborate carved foliage around the main entrance. The piended slate roof has pedimented dormers breaking the eaves, which are topped with scrolls to the outer windows.

The interior was modified in the early 1970s but the layout is largely retained. It contains a large open-plan dining hall on the ground floor, with a raised stage to the east and timber panelled walls. The kitchens are to the north and there is a shooting range located in the basement. The classrooms to the upper floor have timber panelled dados and are accessed by a stair in the southwest corner.

Old Preparatory School

Built between 1823 and 1836, the Old Preparatory School (now Music School) is located in the northwest corner of the site and was part of Burn's original scheme. The simple L-plan building is single-storey over basement with a small slated porch to the re-entrant angle. Built of tooled ashlar sandstone with a piended slate roof, the building has regularly spaced window openings and 12-pane sliding timber sashes. The windows to the south elevation were partially infilled and replaced with timber casements in the 1960s. The west elevation forms part of the western boundary of the site and is abutted by a late 20th-century stair tower and addition to the west (Music Block), which are excluded from the listing. It is abutted to the south by the Classroom Block (north), which is also excluded from the listing.

Originally comprising two large classrooms on the ground floor, the room to the north was partitioned into two in the 1930s. That to the south was partitioned in the late 20th century, to create a corridor and stairwell (excluded from the listing), interlinking the building with the Music Block, which abuts the west elevation (excluded from the listing). Some early detailing remains in the classrooms including moulded cornices, timber-lined splayed rybats and timber panelling to some walls. The large circular openings in the ceilings have been filled in.

Classroom Blocks (south and central)

The single-storey Classroom Blocks (south and central) were added to the north of the western lodge, along the western boundary wall, around 1892 to 1893 by MacGibbon and Ross. They were later extended to the north, around 1930. Built of rock-faced ashlar sandstone with ashlar rybats and a pitched slate roof, the single-storey range has a projecting pedimented frontispiece, with an oculus and mullioned and transomed windows. There are diagonally boarded timber porches to the classroom entrances, with piended slate roofs on bracketed eaves. Random rubble walls to the rear (west) elevation have later window openings inserted. The windows are largely multi-paned timber sliding sashes. The Classroom Block (north) abuts to the north (excluded from the listing).

The interior comprises seven individual classrooms running on a north-south axis. A number towards the north have been altered in the early 21st century with mezzanines inserted and the timber roof structure exposed in the central room. There is some simple early detailing remaining, including areas of timber-lining to the walls and window surrounds. The south bay of the pedimented frontispiece was altered in the late 20th century to provide an access route between the Edinburgh Academy site and the former Donaldson's site to the west (see separate listings, Listed Building References LB27972 and LB30042).

Boundary Walls

The random rubblestone boundary walls were built around 1823, as part of Burn's original scheme, and enclose the site to the north, south, east and west. They have been incorporated as part of many of the Edinburgh Academy's ancillary buildings and have had various alterations. This is particularly noticeable in the western and eastern sections where openings have been inserted or removed and the wall height has been changed in places. Replacement gates and railings were inserted to the south in the early 21st century and these are excluded from the listing.

Gatepiers

Built around 1823 as part of William Burn's original design, the gateway originally comprised a central opening for vehicles, with flanking pedestrian entrances. This was designed to frame the main elevation of the Academy Building. Although the two ashlar sandstone gatepiers remain, the gateway has since been altered to create two vehicular openings, with a new central gatepier built in ashlar stone. The gates and railings are recent replacements and are not of special interest in terms of the listing criteria and are excluded.

Historical Context

The increase in population brought about by urbanisation and the expansion of the New Town meant that Edinburgh's schools had become overcrowded by the 1820s. New Town residents sought to help rectify this by privately funding the construction of a new 'proprietary' school, which would give students the full classical education that they found to be lacking in the other city schools.

The Academy (listed separately: LB27973) was built between 1823 and 1836, funded by a committee of subscribers that had been set up in 1822 by Lord Henry Cockburn and Leonard Horner. Unlike the burgh schools and other schools of the period, private schools remained independent from the control of either the church or the Town Council. The design initially comprised a two-storey building but this proved too expensive and was reduced to a single-storey scheme, which was completed at a modest cost of £13,000. Although the school was opened in October 1824, it was not fully completed until 1836.

Originally the Academy building was abutted on either side by L-plan covered walkways. These connected to the lodges in the south corners, enclosing the forecourt to the south as a military parade ground. As the school expanded, a series of additional buildings were added to the site from the late 19th century onwards. A number of these buildings, such as the Dining Hall and the War Memorial Building, were located to the rear of the principal elevation of the main building. The remainder were built against the east and west boundary walls, lining either side of the open forecourt and replacing Burn's original L-plan covered walkways.

Legal Exclusions

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the interior of the Centre for Performing Arts, chimney addition to north elevation of main building, single-storey flat-roofed additions to east and west elevations of main building, timber hut to north of main building, former toilet block to north of site, gates and railings, classroom block (north) to northwest of main building, James Maxwell Science Centre, stair tower and stair to old preparatory school, and music block extension to west of old preparatory school (excepting Edinburgh Academy (main building) LB27973 which is listed at category A). They are excluded from the listing as they are not of special interest in terms of the criteria for listing.