173, 175, 177, 179 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh

A tenement block of seven connected buildings on Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, designed by Hippolyte Jean Blanc and begun in 1882. The row comprises four-storey and attic tenements with a curved frontage incorporating a corner tenement and ground-floor shops. Built in cream ashlar sandstone, the design draws on 17th-century and Queen Anne architectural vocabulary.

The architecture is richly detailed throughout. Windows feature architraves, pulvinated friezes to the first, second and third floors, and cornices to the first and second floors. The third floor has a cill course running across. Eaves are marked by a cornice with blocking course. Dormer windows are of ashlar with triangular or semi-circular pediments. The gableheads are pilastered and pedimented with swept ashlar flanks and timber transomed bipartite windows positioned above canted windows. Mullions are ashlar. The facade is articulated by projecting rectangular bays containing tripartite and single windows on their returns. Doorways at ground level are moulded with plate glass fanlights, triangular pediments and panelled doors.

The shopfronts (numbered 155-185) remain largely unaltered, featuring pilasters with moulded capitals, fascias and dentilled cornices with blocking courses. Recessed doorways appear at numbers 155, 175, 177, 181 and 185, with curved recessed entrances (ingoes).

On the Bruntsfield Place elevation, the block is composed of multiple sections with varying numbers of bays. Advanced bays with three-storey canted windows and swept gableheads punctuate the facade at intervals. Projecting rectangular bays contain tripartite windows; outer bays feature single windows. Common stair doorways are positioned at strategic points. The corner section facing Bruntsfield Gardens comprises four bays, including a three-storey canted corner window with single dormer and semi-circular pediment.

Windows throughout are timber sash and case with plate glass glazing and smaller upper sashes. The roof is covered in green and black slate arranged in a mansard profile, with corniced mutual stacks and metal flashings. Moulded eaves gutters run along the building line.

A low rubble boundary wall encloses the property at numbers 189-195.