Screen Entrance, Princes Street Station, Rutland Street, Edinburgh

Screen Entrance, Princes Street Station

This building originated as the ground floor and mezzanine entrance to Caledonian Station, designed by Peddie and Kinnear between 1890 and 1893. It was subsequently incorporated into a hotel with upper floors designed by J M Dick Peddie and Washington Browne between 1899 and 1903. The structure has undergone later additions and alterations, and was reconfigured from a V-plan to an A-plan layout in 1970–1.

The building is a Flemish Renaissance hotel with François Ier dormers, constructed in polished red sandstone ashlar with polished dressings. On the north (entrance) elevation facing Princes Street, it rises five storeys including a mezzanine, topped by three attic storeys arranged as a tiered triangular curvilinear pediment with terminating obelisks at each level and a finialled round-arched pediment, set in front of a balustraded pavilion roof. The east (Lothian Road) elevation rises five storeys with basement and two attic storeys, while the north-west (Rutland Street) elevation rises five storeys with two attic storeys. Red brick is used at the rear. The basement on Lothian Road features channelled ashlar.

The composition employs a hierarchy of cornices and decorative detailing: a base course; cornice below thermal windows at mezzanine; entablature and dentil cornice between mezzanine and first floors; dentil cornice between third floor and attics; blocking course at wallhead between attic dormers; and cornices between attic storeys. Moulded architraves frame corniced tripartite windows at the second, third and fourth floors. Semicircular pediments crown the advanced central light flanked by Ionic columns supported on volutes at the second floor of the north elevation, and similar treatment appears on the central lights at the first floor of the east and north-west elevations. Round-arched windows to the tiered attic storeys are divided by single and paired columns. Triple-arched entrances with flanking paired and pedestalled Corinthian columns rise through ground and mezzanine floors at the north elevation, with a pediment to the central pair. Similar paired Corinthian columns divide bays along the east elevation and flank the outer bays of the north-west elevation. Giant pilasters with banded rustication surmount the upper floors of bays capped by two-tiered dormers at the east elevation and flanking the upper floors of two bays to the outer left and outer right of the north-west elevation.

North (Entrance) Elevation: The three-bay elevation features a slightly advanced central bay with high-relief carved spandrels over a tripartite window with Ionic columnar mullions and a thermal window forming the mezzanine at ground floor level. Canopied revolving doors with thermal windows above occupy the flanking bays. A carved female figure rises over the paired columns dividing the bays, with regular fenestration above. The attic storeys contain five windows to the lower level, with paired columns flanking the outer bays and single columns to the remainder; three windows to the middle attic with outer columns paired and inner ones single; and a single window to the top attic flanked by single columns. Round-headed dormer windows open onto the pavilion roof behind.

East (Lothian Road) Elevation: This nineteen-bay elevation displays tripartite fenestration throughout most of its length, except for a single bay (the seventh from the right) with a blank niche at ground floor. The basement is regularly fenestrated. Thermal mezzanine windows appear in eleven bays to the right (excluding the single niched bay) at ground floor level; thermal windows with bipartites above occupy two bays to the left; and tripartites appear to ground floor and mezzanine in the remaining bays to the left. A round-arched doorpiece with a Gibbsian surround, timber panelled door and semicircular fanlight is positioned in the bay third from the left, with the cill of two lights raised at the left of the tripartite window above. Regular fenestration continues to the second, third and fourth floors. Semicircular pediments crown regularly disposed bipartite dormers over each bay. A two-tier attic arrangement features large semicircular pediments over the central and penultimate bays to left and right, each comprising four round-arched windows at the lower level and two at the upper level with terminating obelisks, all flanked by single columns. Small timber box dormers appear along the mansard roof behind.

Return Elevation: A single window appears at the right of the third and fourth floors, with a bipartite at the left of the fourth floor. A two-stage attic dormer matching the Lothian Road elevation sits above.

North-West (Rutland Street) Elevation: This nine-bay elevation is grouped symmetrically with window arrangements of 3-3-2-1-3-1-2-3-3. Two bays to the outer left and right are slightly advanced and treated as entrances at ground floor level (the bays to the outer right having been converted for use as a bar). Carved caryatid mullions ornament the thermal windows. Regular fenestration extends across all floors. Three regularly disposed wallhead dormers with round-arched pediments crown the central bays, with two-stage arrangements as found on the Lothian Road elevation positioned over the bays at the outer ends. Small timber box dormers are set into the mansard roof behind.

Return Elevation: The ground floor and mezzanine are irregularly fenestrated with some windows blocked. Pilaster-style iron brackets are fitted to the wall at the right at mezzanine level. Regular fenestration continues to the upper floors.

Rear (Internal) Elevations: Some red sandstone appears at mezzanine level to the rear of the Lothian Road elevation, incorporating architraved windows. The remainder is principally regularly fenestrated.

The windows are predominantly two-pane timber sash and case. The roof is covered in grey slate with tall ashlar coped stacks and squat cylindrical cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods complete the exterior.

Interior

The interior was designed by Washington Browne and executed by Scott Morton and Company. The reception hall features timber panelling with a pair of Egyptian caryatids supporting the reception desk. The ground floor restaurant incorporates original station features including red sandstone arches and overdoor carvings (these also feature at the ground floor exterior to the rear, alongside copper-cased lamp fittings with ornamental wrought-iron brackets). A station clock by Hamilton and Inches is mounted on the bar wall. The main hall contains paired black marble columns with decorative plasterwork capitals incorporating thistle motifs. A deep dentilled cornice and fluted pilasters ornament the lounge. An imperial staircase rises from the main hall with cast bronze 'tree' balusters and timber handrail, forming part of Robert and Roger Nicholson's redecoration scheme of 1958. First floor corridors feature wood panelling, with a timber balustrade to the staircase leading to the second floor.

Former Screen Entrance to Station

A cast-iron and timber screen painted in red, black and gold is positioned to the south-west of the Rutland Street elevation. It comprises two segmental arches on engaged colonettes with a segmental headed window between, open fretwork to the spandrels, and a centred diamond motif to the frieze below a cavetto moulded, fluted cornice. Smaller-scale cast-iron gates with solid lower panels are set behind the screen.

Piers and Railings

Red sandstone ashlar pedestalled and corniced panelled piers with square caps line the north-west (Rutland Street) elevation. Three evenly disposed cast-iron cope-mounted lamp standards with glass globes and drum wells stand along this elevation (the central one lacks its globe). Decorative cast-iron railings are mounted on ashlar copes between the piers and to the entrance platts at the penultimate bays to left and right. Cope-mounted cast-iron railings between pedestals flank the paired columns along most of the east (Lothian Road) elevation.