301-319 (Odd Nos) Cowgate And 1 And 2 High School Yards

This building, located at 301-319 Cowgate and 1 and 2 High School Yards, was constructed in 1897 by the City Engineers Department. It is a four-storey and attic, twelve-bay tenement designed in the Scots Baronial style, featuring crowstepped gables and a near-symmetrical façade. The building is situated on a steeply sloping site, with deck-access housing facing High School Yards to the south and shops on the ground floor along Cowgate to the north. The exterior is made of squared and snecked rubble with red sandstone margins, and it has a cornice above the shops, along with a red sandstone band course and blocking course to the south. A corbelled angle bay is present at the northeast corner.

On the southeast elevation, there are two recessed seven-bay sections with one-bay outer bays that flank an advanced two-bay central section. The building features concrete balconies supported by iron columns and railings. Central round-arched openings lead to stairwells, with narrow sidelights beside the window openings in the advanced bays, which have sandstone mullions.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with eight and twelve panes for the flats, while the shops have plate glass. The roof is covered with grey slates and includes gable and ridge stacks.

Access to the east entrance is via a dog-leg flight of stairs that leads from Cowgate up to High School Yards. This entrance is accessed through a segmental arch, which is supported by another segmental arch to the right. The stairs are constructed of squared and snecked rubble with red sandstone dressings, and they feature square-plan coped dividing red sandstone piers and decorative iron railing banisters.