274-278 Canongate, Edinburgh

274-278 Canongate is a five-storey tenement building in Edinburgh, designed by David Cousin and John Lessels and dated 1869. It features a crow-stepped Scots Baronial style and is situated on a prominent corner site, with altered commercial premises on the ground floor. The building is constructed of snecked rubble with ashlar margins, which are raised to the stair windows. It has a moulded cornice at the ground and fourth storeys, along with some string courses.

To the far right at 2 St Mary's Street, there is a slightly advanced stair tower topped with a polygonal louvred turret. The building includes pedimented dormer heads, one of which has a datestone above on St Mary's Street. Some shops have recessed doorways.

The design features a two-bay canted corner with a corbelled crow-stepped gable and two-storey canted oriel windows on the third and fourth storeys. The first-storey windows are adorned with cornices and decorative strapwork above.

The stair tower has a roll-moulded doorway with a four-panel timber entrance door and a carved memorial plaque above. The upper storeys predominantly feature 12-pane timber sash and case windows, while the ground floor has plate glass windows. The roof is covered with grey slates and includes gable and ridge stacks.