81 George Street, Edinburgh

87 George Street in Edinburgh is a building dating from around 1775, with the centre block rebuilt by Hamilton Paterson & Rhind in 1901. It was redeveloped as a single structure by Michael Laird & Partners in 1991. The building consists of a pair of three-storey and attic, three-bay former classical houses featuring twin shopfronts at the ground level, with No. 85 designed by Campbell & Arnott in 1991. The exterior is made of cleaned droved cream sandstone ashlar, with polished red sandstone on the flanks.

Nos. 81 and 85 have modern corniced plate glass shopfronts, with lugged architraves on the first-floor windows. The centre windows are topped with a consoled pediment, while the flanking windows have cornices. Each house features a pair of bowed piend-roofed dormers that are slate-hung. The windows are timber sash and case with 12 panes. The building has ashlar coped skews and stone stacks, which have been rebuilt at the centre with a corniced ashlar design and to the west side, all covered with grey slates.

No. 83 is distinguished by channelled pilasters framing each floor. It has a modern plate glass three-bay shopfront at the ground level, a single large shallow-arched window on the first floor with a bracketed cornice, and a pair of windows on the second floor, with a slightly canted three-light glazing and a centre pilaster. The cornice features three pedestals with ball finials and railings in between. A massive full-width six-light dormer with return lights completes the design.

Inside, the building has been completely rebuilt to accommodate two ground floor and basement shops, along with modern open plan offices.