Sasine Office, General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh

The Sasine Office, located in the General Register House on Princes Street, Edinburgh, was designed by James Craig around 1780, with later additions and alterations by W W Robertson in 1898. This classical office building is four storeys high with an attic and features 17 bays, arranged in a pattern of 8-4-5, slightly stepping up.

The exterior is constructed from black painted droved ashlar with polished dressings, and it includes long and short quoins. On the northeast elevation, there is a cill band at the ground level with a rubble base, and a band course above the ground floor that serves as the cill course for the first floor to the north. The cornice is consistent across the building. The later attic storey is recessed and lined with render, featuring segmental-arched architraved windows. The ground floor has barred windows.

The entrance bay features an octagonal entrance and stair tower that turns the southern corner, linking to the Sasine Office. The arched doorpiece is framed by blocked Roman Doric columns and is topped with a balustrade and pediment.

The northwest end elevation is three bays wide and has been largely rebuilt in squared and snecked ashlar. It includes a stair bow at the centre and broad bipartite windows in the flanking bays on all floors. To the left, there is a wallhead gable with a small bipartite garret window. The rear elevation is made of rubble.

The building has four- and six-pane timber sash and case windows, with wallhead stacks at the cross-walls, and is covered with grey slates.

Inside, the building has been converted to offices. The entrance bay faces west, which is now the rear of the building, and features an internal mahogany porch with fluted pilasters and a corresponding porter's booth. There is an Ionic columned screen leading to the stair, supported by cast-iron Corinthian posts at the base and plain banisters.