Harbour And Docks Office, Tower Place, Leith Docks

The Harbour and Docks Office at Tower Place, Leith Docks, was designed by Charles S. Robertson in 1892 and extended in 1914. This is a two-storey, five-bay, symmetrical rectangular-plan classical office building, featuring a lower two-storey extension at the rear. The building is constructed of cream sandstone ashlar, while the rear extension is made of squared and snecked rubble.

The ground and first floors have a cill and lintel course, with a string course above the ground floor. The eaves cornice is topped with a tall parapet. The windows are architraved, with those on the ground floor being pedimented. The angle pilasters are channelled at the ground floor, with paired pilasters at the first floor.

On the northwest elevation facing Tower Place, there is a round-arched doorway at the pedimented centre bay, leading to a shallow porch supported by paired square columns. A single window at the first floor is flanked by shallow paired pilasters, with a pierced balustraded balcony above. The pediment breaks the tablet above the eaves, featuring an antifixa at the apex and carved figures holding a heraldic cartouche. The outer bays have single windows.

The southwest elevation has four bays with single windows. The outer bays are channelled at the ground floor, and the first-floor windows are flanked by shallow paired pilasters. A tall parapet with a pierced balustrade crowns the outer bays, and there is a scrolled wallhead stack at the centre. To the right, there is a five-bay lower two-storey addition featuring bipartite windows in the outer and fourth bays, with single windows in the remaining bays.

The northeast elevation also has five bays, with the detailing of the facade carried over to the three right bays, which have single windows and a scrolled wallhead stack to the right. The two bays to the left are three-storey with single windows, and the ground floor is pedimented. There is a four-bay later addition to the outer left, featuring a recessed link and a corniced doorway.

The windows are timber sash and case with plate glass glazing. The roofs are piend and platform slate with metal flashings, featuring two wallhead stacks and three stacks on the addition. The building has ornamental gutterheads and star-shaped brackets.

Inside, there is a revolving timber door, a mosaic floor with a fan pattern in the vestibule and hall, embossed dado, and Neo-classical plasterwork. An elaborately carved timber staircase adds to the interior's character.

The front is enclosed by a low rubble wall with iron railings, corner piers topped with ball finials, and gatepiers with lamp standards flanking the entrance. There is also a decorative cast-iron transformer case in the forecourt.