Filmhouse, 86, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh

Filmhouse, located at 86 and 88 Lothian Road in Edinburgh, is a classical church building designed by William Burn, with alterations by David Bryce completed between 1830 and 1831, and further modifications by MacGibbon and Ross in 1893. This three-storey, five-bay structure has a symmetrical rectangular plan and has been converted into a cinema complex. The exterior features polished sandstone ashlar, with a channelled ground floor, a base course, and voussoirs above the ground floor windows and doorways. There is a dividing band course above the ground floor, a band course at the eaves, a cornice, and a balustraded parapet. The windows on the first and second floors have architraves, and the first-floor windows include aprons and cornices.

On the entrance elevation, the outer bays on the right and left form advanced entrances with two-leaf timber doors and round-arched plate glass fanlights. The floors above these entrances are flanked by giant order pilasters, with single pedimented windows on the first floor and blank rectangular tablets on the second floor. The three intermediate bays have regular fenestration, with round arches at the ground level. The first and second floors feature 16-pane timber sash and case windows, while the ground floor windows have an additional six panes. The roof was not visible as of 1997.

Inside, the entrance bays lead into a modern central foyer, with a rectangular-plan cafeteria and bar located at the rear. A corridor to the left at the back leads to Cinemas 2 and 3. Staircases ascend from halls on both sides to a U-plan gallery surrounding Cinema 1, which is supported by six original fluted Tower-of-the-Winds columns that hold up a segmental ceiling made up of 12 panels, along with a stepped stage.

The boundary walls and gatepiers consist of single-storey corniced ashlar walls that project to the street at the outer edges, with low ashlar boundary walls aligned with the advanced bays. Small coped gatepiers flank a band of steps leading to the three central bays.