Gate-Piers And Railings, Lodge With Gates, Jenners Repository, 140A Balgreen Road, Edinburgh

Jenners Repository is a commercial warehouse complex built in 1925-6 by J B Dunn, with a rear extension added around 1980. The complex includes a traditional gate lodge and a functional garage block, all designed by J B Dunn in 1926. It is constructed in an austere classical style and is generously fenestrated.

The main warehouse is an H-plan, five-storey building with a fifth storey serving as an attic. Constructed using reinforced concrete with a steel frame, the exterior is faced with red cavity brick and a deep grey brick base course, with painted and concrete floor dividing bands. A cornice sits above the third floor, topped by a deep grey brick fascia band that acts as an apron to the attic cills and a flush wallhead course. Giant pilasters divide the bays from the first to the third floor, and the ground floor is treated as a classical plinth.

The northeast elevation has seven bays with regular fenestration, with the windows becoming smaller on the third floor and in the attic. A central doorway on the ground floor features double doors and a prominent keystone above it, with the words “Jenners Depository” displayed in large letters on the grey fascia band. The southeast elevation has three recessed bays at the center, incorporating a taller central bay which houses a stair/lift tower and breaks the eaves with a rooftop cap-house. Vehicle entrances are located at ground level, flanking the central bays, under a swept canopy roof spanning two advanced outer bays on each side. The fenestration and detailing of this elevation largely mirrors that of the northeast elevation, with a repetition of the “Jenners” inscription on the outer bay fascia bands. The southwest elevation mirrors the northeast elevation, with an additional element at ground level. The northwest elevation mirrors the southeast elevation, but features "Store" in the fascia above the outer bays. The windows are discreetly three-part metal windows, with the opening facility limited to the central sections. The roofs are swept with asphalt and slate between the store ranges, with flat roofs over other ranges. Internal inspection was not possible in 1996, but plans show offices under the swept roofs at first floor level, flanking the lift and stair shafts, and featuring concrete floors.

The gate lodge, also by J B Dunn (1926-6), is a single-storey, near-square-plan building with a pyramidally-roofed structure, constructed of harled brick. The northwest entrance elevation features a central door flanked by windows. Windows are also present on the southwest and northeast elevations; the northeast elevation has two windows and a small secondary side door flanked by a small light. The lodge originally intended to contain a scullery, living room, and three bedrooms. It features a small-pane glazing pattern, boarded doors, and a grey slate roof with a central, harled stack, topped with stone coping and four flues.

The gate piers, gates, and railings are also by J B Dunn (1926). An entrance drive, located to the northeast of the site on Balgreen Road, leading to the lodge, is marked by channelled stone gate piers with cornices and ball finials (one missing). Decorative wrought-iron gates and railed piers are centrally positioned. Plainer railings bound the site, reflecting Dunn’s design.

The garages are a single-storey, long rectangular gabled range to the south of the site, constructed of harled brick. The north elevation features a row of six garage doors. The rear elevation has windows with multi-pane glazing, the central panes being operable. A lower toilet block is situated at the west end, with windows on the return and a door flanked by high windows on the west elevation. The building is roofed with grey slates.