Edinburgh, Wester Hailes Road, Calder Road, 122 Sighthill Loan, St Nicholas Parish Church (Church Of Scotland) Including Halls And Church Officer's Accommodation

St Nicholas Parish Church, Wester Hailes Road, Edinburgh

A Grade B listed church designed by Ross, Doak and Whitelaw between 1955 and 1957, located on a corner site adjacent to a post-war housing estate. The building adopts a Festival of Britain Style aesthetic and follows a roughly Z-plan arrangement, comprising a double-height rectangular church to the north, a perpendicular double-height rectangular hall to the south, a two-storey rectangular block containing a smaller hall and church officer's accommodation to the west, and a single-storey entrance hall block occupying the north-west re-entrant angle.

The church is constructed with an exposed aggregate concrete base course and cavity brick walls in brown and grey facing bricks laid in stretcher bond, with slate window surrounds. The halls and church officer's accommodation employ brick at ground floor level with cement render above and terrazzo cills. A distinctive Festival of Britain Style decorative scheme, including patterned coloured and glazed tiles in the entrance vestibule, characterises the interior throughout.

The west elevation facing Wester Hailes Road presents the church with a canted section clad entirely in Broughton Moor slate with a central full-height glazed strip. The church hall extends to the right as a seven-bay structure with an advanced ground floor featuring a glazed panel incorporating a stained glass light; the north return contains paired entrances set in a concrete surround, with a concrete panel bearing a figurative relief carving to the right. The two-storey gabled block to the far right contains a deeply recessed vestibule with distinctive square coloured and glazed tiles, with entrance doors opening to returns.

The north elevation along Calder Road shows the church with a wide canted central glazed section composed of narrow opaque lights. The chancel steps back to the left with full-height glazing separated by timber fins.

The east elevation displays the chancel wall in brick with enlarged basket weave bond and advanced brick detailing, with open sections at the top left at the belfry. A slightly advanced single-storey flat-roofed garage and session room block projects to the left.

The south elevation facing Sighthill Loan comprises a two-storey three-bay section at the far left (small hall and church officer's accommodation) with linear glazing at ground floor and a recessed vestibule to the right. A double-height brick gable forms the church hall with a four-bay return to the east featuring a multipane glazed clerestory with bays separated by square concrete columns. The church is set back and to the right with a geometric glazed saw-toothed clerestory and a reinforced concrete belfry. An advanced single-storey section at ground level features two-leaf timber entrance doors with sidelights and fanlights within a recess to the right.

The interior, as seen in 2013, maintains a comprehensive Festival of Britain Style decorative scheme throughout, with original timber fixtures and fittings, hardwood and softwood flooring to the church, halls and session room, and terrazzo tiles to circulation areas. The church contains timber pews, a square pulpit, and a chancel wall with coloured relief panelling representing the tearing of the temple veil. A notable feature is the unusual choir and organ gallery to the west, supported on a pair of chamfered concrete supports and standing independently of the western wall to appear free-standing. It features raked seating and a slatted timber balustrade. The roof is supported by painted concrete bison beams and square pilasters. The large hall features vertically boarded timber to the dado and south gable wall. Inner vestibule doors from the south elevation are timber with coloured glazed insets, retaining original door furniture.

The building employs bespoke metal frames to the church and large church hall, with casement windows elsewhere. The pitched roof is covered in copper sheet, with a tall slender ventilator and ridge finial to the church.