3, 5, 7 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh

Designed by Archibald Elliot in 1815 and built in 1819, 9 and 11 Waterloo Place is a classical building situated on a corner plot in Edinburgh. The building presents symmetrical facades, with 26 bays facing Waterloo Place, 4 bays facing Leith Street, and 4 bays facing Princes Street. A prominent two-storey tetrastyle Ionic portico, supported by columns, faces Princes Street (see Notes). The building rises to three storeys on Waterloo Place and Leith Street, with additional attic floors to the advanced pavilions, and a four-storey substructure.

The exterior is constructed of polished ashlar stone, with some sections of the ground floor painted. The rear is of rubble construction. Architectural details include a slightly advanced base course, a cill band to the first floor, a dividing band between the first and second floors, an eaves course and cornice, and a balustraded parapet. Giant pilasters divide the bays of the advanced pavilions. The ground floor features round arched openings with recessed aprons beneath the windows. Windows are regularly spaced throughout with predominantly 12-pane glazing to the upper floors. Ground floor windows facing Waterloo Place have 9-pane upper sashes and 4-pane lower sashes in timber sash-and-case windows; Leith Walk has modern glazing. The roofs are flat with grey slate, and corniced stone stacks are located at the top of the wallheads of each advanced pavilion.

The south (Waterloo Place) elevation is a long palace-style range with advanced pavilions centrally, to the outer right and left, comprising 3 bays to the left, 3 bays to the right, and 6 bays in the centre.

The west elevation features a slightly advanced three-bay pavilion to the right with fluted giant Ionic columns at first floor level, supporting a pediment. A single bay to the left provides access to a ground floor door.

The interior of the Waterloo Buffet features an Edwardian decorative scheme. The ground floor room has a high, compartmented ceiling with deeply moulded cornices and scrolled brackets with foliate decoration. Timber boarding extends to dado height. A shallow, U-shaped counter is timber-panelled with reeded pilasters. A ceiling-height gantry incorporates a central pointed pediment and flanking segmental-arched pediments, with mirrors behind slender turned columns. A decorative cornice with a fretted edge is present, along with spirit casks. A separate outer door and access through the bar lead to an upper floor lounge, which contains a long timber bar counter with decorative arched panelling and two semi-circular bowed projections.