The Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 32, 34 and 36 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh

The Out of the Blue Drill Hall, located at 32, 34 and 36 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, is a neo-Baroque former drill hall built in 1900-1901. It has been subsequently restored and reconstructed in 2004 by Malcolm Fraser (phase 1) and Moray Royles (phases 2 & 3), and now serves as an arts and education centre and offices. The building has a roughly rectangular plan, with two storeys, three at the rear, and seven bays.

The principal elevation is constructed of polished sandstone ashlar, while the side elevations utilize squared and snecked rubble with polished sandstone dressings. The rear office section is faced in red brick, and the hall itself is built of red and cream brick. Architectural details include a base course, cill course, and a mutuled cornice at the eaves. The central bay is slightly projected and features a segmental-arched pend opening with a Gibbs surround, flanked by banded pilasters topped with obelisks. An inscription reading '7th Bn The Royal Scots' appears above the pend, along with a carved coat of arms and the date 1901 displayed in the tympanum. Carved Roman military motifs are present at the first floor in bays 2 and 6. The front elevation features bipartite windows with stone mullions.

Windows are timber sash and case with a 15-pane glazing pattern to the front elevation; the west (side) elevation incorporates metal and timber-framed windows with multi-pane glazing in fixed and casement formats. The piended roof is covered in green-grey slates and includes a cupola, along with tall corniced chimney stacks topped with red cans.

The interior, observed in 2015, retains many early 20th-century fittings. These include timber chimneypieces, some with gesso decoration, dadoes, and timber panelled doors in various offices on the ground and first floors. The original officers' room on the first floor is notable for symmetrically arranged doors, timber panelling to door height, and decorative plasterwork on the coved ceiling. The adjacent company meeting room features a similar high coved ceiling and plain plasterwork. The stairwell on the west side displays fine panelling to the dado, timber bannisters and rail with carved newel finials, and elaborate compartmented plasterwork. The former armoury retains its early 20th-century iron grill. Early 20th-century fittings have been preserved in one ground floor toilet. The drill hall’s roof is supported by shallow trussed arches borne on internal brick buttresses and is lit by large roof lights. Alterations in 2004 included the addition of artists' pods around the perimeter of the drill hall.