Church Of Scotland Offices, 117, 119, 121 George Street, Edinburgh

The Church of Scotland Offices, located at 117, 119, and 121 George Street, Edinburgh, were designed by Sydney Mitchell & Wilson and constructed between 1909 and 1911. An additional eastern bay was added in 1932 by Auldjo Jamieson & Arnott. It is a substantial four-storey, four-bay, H-plan office building that projects from the street line, topped with a double attic within a mansard roof.

The exterior is characterized by a polished granite arcade at ground level, with the upper floors featuring channelled rustication of polished cream ashlar sandstone. The original block is symmetrical and seamlessly extended eastward. A central arched and rusticated doorpiece stands out, adorned with an elaborate bronze festoon and consoled cornice, surmounted by a stylized glazed two-bay Egyptian colonnade with a tall cornice and a large bronze escutcheon featuring winged supporters. Flanking this are three-bay Greek Doric arcades framed by channelled piers, with a further three-bay arcade extending to the east; plate glass glazing is behind the eastern shop front. At the first floor, windows are grouped 3-2-3, square-headed in design, while the second floor features round-headed windows. An elaborate bronze festoon sits above the central window of the second floor, flanked by three flagpoles. A dwarf Doric colonnade runs along the third floor with deeply recessed glazing across a 14-bay section of the main block, and further 2 blind bays and 5 bays eastward. A lead-coated parapet with ram’s heads projects over the arcade. The mansard roof features twelve segmental-headed, garlanded lead dormers, and six similar round-headed garret windows.

The inner facades are faced with glazed bricks, and exhibit extensive fenestration, much of which has been renewed. Some windows are arcaded at ground level. The rear elevation is of squared, snecked and stugged sandstone.

The building has five full storeys and an attic. Arcaded windows are present on the main block at ground and second floor levels. Timber sash and case windows are used throughout; 12-pane windows are found on the first and second floors, 9-pane windows on the third and attic floors, with plate glass at the rear (though some replacements exist). The front and rear mansards are covered with grey slates, leaded skews and platforms. Corniced ashlar stacks are visible at the end gables and at the centre front, alongside grey slates.

The interior is notable for the ground floor lobby, which leads to a square, single-storey hypostyle hall. This hall has quarter engaged polished black Doric columns and a black and white marble pavement. A shop occupies the eastern portion, while a chapel, originally designed by Ian Lindsay in 1953 and featuring stained glass by A.L. Russel, was relocated in the 1980s. Modern meeting rooms are situated to the west. A link between the front and rear blocks contains a lift enclosed by a staircase, lined with ceramic ashlar and arcaded at all floors except the attic; a pair of black columns frame the lift entrance, and metal windows are present. Simple offices are located to the front and rear, with open-plan offices along the inner elevations. The rear block features arcaded passages on the second and third floors. Surviving interior features include glazed doors, cornices, and timber and granite chimneypieces. The 1932 extension precisely replicates the original design.