16, 17, 18 Princes Street, Edinburgh is a Grade B listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 12 December 1974. Commercial, neoclassical building. 4 related planning applications.

16, 17, 18 Princes Street, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
secret-sandstone-sepia
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh North and Leith MP: Tracy Gilbert (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
12 December 1974
Type
Commercial, neoclassical building
Address
16, 17, 18 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2AN
OS grid reference
NT 257 740
Coordinates
55.95339, -3.19065
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

16, 17, and 18 Princes Street in Edinburgh is a four-storey and attic building designed by George Beattie & Son in 1864, with some later alterations. This broad single canted bay neo-Greek block features a modern shopfront at the ground level, topped by an original scrolled balustrade. The exterior is made of polished cream sandstone ashlar. The first and second floors are distinguished by giant fluted columns in the Tower of the Winds style, which support a heavy entablature. Above these, the third floor has a later mansard attic. The windows are architraved, with paired windows at the center and a central consoled pediment adorned with acroteria on the first floor. The mansard features a paired dormer.

The building has plate glass timber windows, with sash and case windows on the first floor. The roof is covered with grey slates, and there are ashlar coped skews and stacks.

The interior at ground level is modern retail space.

Local climate

16, 17, 18 Princes Street, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 4 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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