42 Melville Street, Edinburgh

17 Walker Street in Edinburgh is a notable building designed by John Lessels between 1855 and 1856, which connects to earlier end terrace blocks by Robert Brown from 1814 that face 42 Melville Street and 17 Walker Street. This structure consists of three stories and a basement, featuring a unified façade of townhouses with main-door and common stair flats behind, and oversailing platts. There is a later attic addition to No. 42 Melville Street. The basement area includes some vaulted cellars and retaining walls. The exterior is constructed of sandstone ashlar, channelled at the ground floor, with a banded base course, banded cill and string courses at the first floor, and a banded cill course at the second floor. The building has stepped parapets with balustrades in between, although the balustrades are missing on the Melville Crescent elevation. Doorways are framed in round arched surrounds with fanlights and narrow sidelights, and there are round arched recessed surrounds at the ground floor. Decorative cast-iron arches with lamp holders are present on the Melville Street side.

The west elevation on Melville Crescent is symmetrical with nine bays, featuring advanced and pilastered central three bays and single end bays with architraved, bracketed, and corniced first floor windows. The northwest elevation on Melville Street and the east elevation on Walker Street are symmetrical with five bays, showcasing advanced flanking bays and a recessed centre. The sandstone ashlar is vermiculated at the basement, and there is a blind fanlight on the Melville Street elevation. The first floor has architraved, bracketed, and corniced surrounds, while the centre features an architraved, bracketed, and pedimented surround.

The windows predominantly consist of plate glass set in timber sash and case frames. The roof is a double pitch M-section covered with grey slates, and there are corniced ashlar gable end and ridge stacks topped with modern clay cans. The basement recess is edged with cast-iron railings on ashlar coping stones, and cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

Inside, the building is characterized by a highly decorative classical scheme with detailed cornicing, and it has been converted for later office and residential use in 2008. Notably, there are large ornate cast-iron arches above the entrance plat to Melville Street, each featuring a lampholder at the centre and some with glass bell-jar shades. Coiled cast-iron serpent lamp snuffers are located on each side of the archway.