38 West Register Street, Edinburgh

38 West Register Street in Edinburgh is a former warehouse and printers, built in 1864 by W Hamilton Beattie (formerly George Beattie and Son). This symmetrical, four-storey building with an attic showcases Venetian Gothic architecture and is constructed from polished cream sandstone. The ground floor features a semi-elliptical arcade and a rope-moulded cornice. Above, the first and second floors have a pointed arch arcade with a dentilled cornice, teardrop-headed windows separated by a pierced band, and intricate carvings at the first floor. The third floor is adorned with trefoil-headed windows and a bracketed cornice. The corners of the building are canted, with impressive carved arched doorways that are now blocked, and there are two windows on each floor above, topped with pierced parapets.

The south elevation consists of seven bays, with a broad, slightly projecting central bay that has an arched pend at the ground level, flanked by painted bronze bas-relief portraits. This elevation features a polychrome treatment and a single arch above, with two windows on the third floor.

The west elevation is a six-bay return that adjoins a modern block, while the east elevation is also a six-bay return that connects to a northeast block.

The windows are timber plate glass casement types, and the building has a modern mansard roof fitted with Velux windows and grey slates.

The northeast block, formerly No 38, is an earlier 19th-century classical corner block with five storeys and an attic, featuring four bays on each elevation. It is made from droved cream sandstone ashlar, with plate glass shop windows and a cornice at the ground level, as well as cill bands at the first and second floors. The block has a cornice and a solid parapet, and it adjoins a modern block to the west.

The windows in this block are 12-pane timber sash and case types, and it also has a modern mansard roof with Velux windows and grey slates.

The interior of both blocks has been converted for modern office use.