16, 18, 18A St Vincent Street, Edinburgh

16, 18, and 18A St Vincent Street is a four-storey and basement end of terrace tenement building, designed by Robert Reid and William Sibbald in the early 19th century. The building has six bays on the west elevation and seven bays on the south elevation. It was substantially restored around 1995 and is constructed from polished ashlar sandstone, featuring channelled rustication at the principal floor and broached ashlar at the basement. Architectural details include a base course, a band course between the basement and principal floor, as well as between the principal and first floors, and cill courses at the first and third floors. The third floor is topped with a cornice and blocking course, and the entrance is accessed via ashlar steps and entrance platts that oversail the basement.

On the west elevation facing St Vincent Street, there are six bays with panelled timber doors and plate glass rectangular fanlights in two bays flanking the centre. The remaining bays feature regular fenestration at the principal floor, as well as on the floors above and in the basement. A corniced wallhead tablet is centred at the third floor.

The south elevation facing Cumberland Street has seven bays, with a centrally located panelled timber door and plate glass rectangular fanlight at the principal floor. The other bays have regular fenestration at the principal floor and on the floors above and basement, although there are blind windows in the outer left bay and the penultimate bay from the left on all floors above the basement, as well as centred in the first, second, and third floors.

The building features predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows, a grey slate roof, and cast-iron rainwater goods. There are rendered ridge stacks, a rendered gablehead stack with polished ashlar quoins, and a polished ashlar wallhead stack, all coped and with circular cans.

The interiors were not seen in 1997, but there is some evidence of working panelled shutters. The railings consist of ashlar copes topped with cast-iron railings featuring fleur-de-lis balusters and urn finials.