Bank Of Scotland, 39 St Andrew Square, 38, Edinburgh

The Bank of Scotland, located at 39 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, was designed by David Bryce in 1846. It is a large, three-storey, five-bay building constructed in the Imperial Roman style. The exterior is faced with cream sandstone ashlar, which has an orange hue following cleaning. The ground floor is channelled ashlar, featuring a massive doorway in the centre, flanked by windows set between pilasters. The doorway has a deep-set, two-leaf panelled door, consoled cills, and cornices. The first and second floors are set back behind six freestanding, fluted Corinthian columns. These columns support a heavy entablature that projects forward, above which are statues representing Navigation, Commerce, Manufacture, Science, Art, and Agriculture. Balustrades are located between the bases of the columns. The windows on the first floor have consoled pediments, while those on the second floor have consoled and balustraded individual balconies. A balustraded parapet tops the building behind the statuary. The windows are timber, with eight panes, and have plate glass at ground level.

The interior features a simple entrance hall that leads to a grand stair hall with a compartmented ceiling. A stone staircase with scrolled and gilded balustrades leads upwards and features consoles supporting the landing. An arched niche contains a war memorial chimneypiece with a pedimented overmantel enclosed by a gadrooned frame; two smaller, similar examples are positioned on either side and lit by wrought-iron lamps. The cruciform Banking Hall is directly ahead on the central axis, dominated by a tripartite stained glass window above the door, supported by Corinthian columns. The banking hall is arranged in three bays by five, with polished Peterhead granite columns and pilasters, and side aisles lined with mirrored arches. A consoled attic contains plaster swags and busts of prominent Scots. The flat ceiling incorporates a Greek cross pattern and a central dome of engraved glass. A Minton tile floor extends from the hall. A boardroom is located at the front of the building, accessed from the landing via a massive door with a consoled pediment and a bolection-moulded vine leaf frieze, which is repeated inside. The boardroom features a panelled dado, plaster panelled walls with built-in portraits, grey marble chimneypieces at either end, and pedimented doors to an ante room. It has a dentilled and modillioned cornice and a compartmented ceiling. A significant amount of the original furnishing remains throughout the building. The building is linked to number 37 (see separate listing). Four cast-iron lamp standards, mounted on pedestals, flank the entrance doorway and the facade.