280, 282 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh

This is a later 19th-century block of tenements, built with later alterations, situated on Portobello High Street, Edinburgh. The building comprises two storeys and thirty-three bays, incorporating shop fronts at ground level. The first floor is faced with polished ashlar, while sandstone turnpike staircases are located at the rear, with contrasting (droved) ashlar detailing. A prominent base course, a band course marking the division between the ground and first floors, a cill course at the first-floor level, a cornice, and a blocking course contribute to the building’s exterior detailing.

The principal (southwest) elevation presents regularly spaced bays on the first floor, with two bays blinded. The building features a variety of entrance arrangements and shop fronts. The first bay contains an entrance to a pend, and a window occupies the second bay, used as a shop display. Doors with rectangular plate glass fanlights are positioned in the third and fourth bays, and a modern shop front is found within the sixth to eighth bays. A boarded door, originally with a plate glass fanlight and a 19th-century wrought-iron ornamental armature, is present in the ninth bay. Modern fascia is visible at No. 266, with a central entrance door and flanking windows. No. 268 is distinguished by a glazed door with a shouldered, chamfered doorpiece and a basket-arch plate glass fanlight above, accompanied by flanking windows with shouldered, chamfered architraves. A modern flush door provides access to the rear and the first-floor turnpikes in the sixteenth bay, also featuring a rectangular plate glass fanlight. Nos. 272, 274 and 276 all exhibit a similar door and window arrangement with varying detailing, including stop-chamfered doorpieces and architraves. A later 19th-century cast-iron shop front is visible at No. 278, with a central, deep-set door, a plate glass rectangular fanlight, and large plate glass shop windows. Modern alterations have been made to the ground floor of the final bays, 27th to 33rd.

The rear (northeast) elevation reveals two-storey turnpike staircases, centrally positioned in three-bay sections, excluding the intermediate pends. Later brick and harled additions are present at the rear of Nos. 280-282 (No 1A Bellfield Lane) and No. 284.

A variety of window types are used throughout, including 12-pane, 8-pane, 6-pane, and 2-pane timber sash and case windows, along with timber plate glass sash and case windows with mock astragals. Modern aluminium casement windows are found at No. 276, and further modern timber casement windows are present in the 27th to 29th bays. The roof is covered in grey slate, surmounted by various mutual ridge stacks, constructed of rendered and coped material.

The interior of the building was not inspected during a report in 1994.