3, 4, 5 Maritime Street, Leith, Edinburgh

Probably designed by James Simpson and dated 1899, 6 Maritime Street is a three-storey (with a raised basement at No. 6) office block and warehouse extending to the rear, divided by a pend. It presents as an asymmetrical six-bay composition with free Renaissance detailing. The front elevation is of cream sandstone with polished ashlar detailing, which has weathered significantly since 1992. The warehouse and rear elevations are of squared and snecked rubble with stugged dressings.

The front elevation is divided into a four-bay section for the offices on the left and a two-bay warehouse on the right. A depressed-arched pend, cobbled with cast-iron cart tracks and featuring blocked voussoirs, is located to the right of centre. Above the pend is a canted oriel with a scalloped parapet and carved foliate corbel. A round-arched doorway, also keystoned with blocked voussoirs, is positioned to the left of centre, framed by half-fluted Ionic pilasters embossed with cartouches displaying “SMJ & Co” and the dates “1899” and “estd. 1840”. Above the doorway is a pediment bearing a shell motif. The door itself is panelled, topped with a dentilled cornice, and features a plate glass fanlight. The offices have architraved windows on the ground and first floors, with a pulvinated frieze and carved detail on the first floor tripartite windows. The warehouse section has rounded arrises on the ground and first floors. The rear elevation features altered windows, a graduated nine-light stair window with ashlar mullions and transoms, velux rooflights, and a brick addition.

The windows are mostly timber sash and case with plate glass, although replacement windows are present on the second floor. Warehouse windows are six-pane timber hoppers. The roof is a slate mansard with metal flashings, and a mutual stack is located to the south. Ornamental gutterheads are also present.

Internally, the building features a tiled vestibule, a tripartite inner door, carved panelling, a timber staircase with a carved balustrade and newel post, and ornate cornices on the first floor. The warehouse incorporates cast-iron columns and steel beam construction. A green and black vitrolite bathroom was installed on the first floor, which was converted to residential use in the 1930s.