Officers' Mess, Redford Cavalry Barracks, Colinton Road, Edinburgh

A 3-storey, 29-bay, asymmetrical, wide butterfly-plan Officers' mess, dated 1914, with four associated stable blocks to the south, designed by Harry B. Measures. The Officers' mess is of dark, coursed rock-faced rubble with pale ashlar dressings and has channelled ashlar to the ground floor. There is a base course, band courses to all floors and an eaves course. The windows have projecting cills.

The principal elevation is to the west and has an advanced, central, Dutch gabled entrance bay. At the ground floor there is a segmental arch with a bowed balcony above which is flanked by massive decorative piers. These have finialled copper ball caps behind small scrolled pediments and 'GvR' and '1914' inscribed in decorative wreaths. There is a central 2-leaf half-glazed timber panelled entrance door with a fanlight and flanking windows within the arch.

There are round re-entrant angle turrets which have octagonal lanterns with round-arched window openings and ogee-roofed finialled copper domes. At ground level, the turrets have 2-leaf, half-glazed timber panelled doors with fanlights in segmental arches with prominent scrolled keystones. There are 6-light canted window bays between the central entrance bay and the turrets.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case windows with 12-pane glazing to the upper floors. There are timber casement windows to the ground floor with 6-over 4-pane glazing. There are grey graded slates and raised skews to the roof. The chimney stacks have deep cornices.

The interior was seen in 2016. The public rooms are situated on the ground floor with residential accommodation above. There is an octagonal entrance hall with a coved ceiling and an octagonal lantern. The dining room and the drawing room have timber chimney pieces with central panels, inscribed '19 GvR 14'. There are timber fire surrounds to some other public rooms. There are curved staircases within the turrets with timber banisters. Some of the rooms have simple decorative cornicing and there are timber and part-glazed doors.

The four stable blocks (building nos. 5-8) lie to the south and are also of dark, rock-faced rubble with pale ashlar dressings. They are all gabled, and buildings nos. 6-8 have haylofts, drop-platforms, hoists, round-arched entrances and irregular fenestration. They all have boarded timber stable doors and a Diocletian window at one gable end. Building no. 5 is smaller than the others and has a row of high windows and boarded timber doors. Building no. 8 has a former cell at the east end. The stable buildings have grey slates and the windows are mainly timber windows with a small glazing pattern.