The Grange Cricket Club Pavilion, Portgower Place, Edinburgh

The Grange Cricket Club Pavilion, Portgower Place, Edinburgh

This Grade A listed building is a cricket pavilion designed by the architects Cunningham, Blyth and Westland between 1892 and 1895. The roof was repaired in 1909. A groundsman's accommodation block was added to the south elevation and internal remodelling carried out in the 1950s. Further repairs were undertaken in 1998 by David Greig Sibbald of The Carl Fisher Sibbald Partnership. Squash courts were constructed to the east and linked to the pavilion by an entrance section in the 1980s.

The building is a 2-storey structure with an attic storey, arranged on a 5-bay rectangular plan, with the main pavilion facing the cricket pitch to the north. A square-plan tower occupies the centre. Construction is of squared and snecked sandstone with red sandstone ashlar dressings at ground floor and chimney stacks. The upper floors and tower feature half-timbering with rendered infill and painted margins. The ground floor is corniced. Windows are predominantly timber mullioned and transomed, and plain bargeboarding is employed to the gables.

The north-facing principal elevation is dominated by tiered terracing that rises from the ground floor to the pitch of the roof. At ground level there are 6 tiers and 5 tiers rising to the roof pitch, both furnished with ergonomic teak-slatted benches with wrought-iron bracing and cast-iron balustrades. A full-width veranda runs along the first floor, with a slightly advanced gabled porch at the centre, supported on turned timber columns. The gablehead displays a clock and decorative relief. The central doorway is a 2-leaf partly glazed timber door flanked by narrow sidelights and a multipane rectangular fanlight. Each flanking bay has a tripartite mullioned and transomed window with a broader central light and multi-paned lights above the transom. The central tower has a partly-glazed 2-leaf door flanked by narrow windows.

The east elevation has an asymmetric gable. A tripartite ground-floor window sits to the left, with four windows to the right. The first floor and attic are lit by tripartite mullioned and transomed windows of varying sizes, with panelled aprons and cornices. An outer right window on the first floor features a segmental arch with timber boarded apron, enclosing a veranda.

The south, or rear, elevation is a 3-bay stepped composition. A tripartite window with stone mullions is positioned at ground level to the left. Tripartite windows between the floors in the centre bay light the staircase and tower area. Bipartite mullioned and transomed windows light the first floor and attic to the right. A 1950s single-storey brick addition with a flat roof extends from the right side.

The west elevation displays an asymmetric gable. A tripartite transomed first-floor window with panelled apron and cornice is set to the left, with the outer example being larger. An outer left segmental arched window with timber boarded apron encloses a veranda. A 1980s single-storey entrance addition is attached at ground level.

The pitched roof is clad in clay tiles with decorative ridge tiles and finials. The central tower has a pyramidal roof with a fish-scale tiled section topped by a decorative cast-iron weathervane. The 1950s addition has a flat roof. The tower is flanked by coped chimney stacks with a variety of clay cans. Exposed rafter ends extend to the eaves, while the tower features bracketed eaves. Moulded guttering runs throughout.

The interior (observed in 2013) displays a fine decorative scheme on the first floor principal rooms and circulation spaces, characterised by extensive timber fixtures and fittings. The plan is arranged around a half-turn staircase at the rear, which is constructed in stone with a cast-iron balustrade and timber handrail. The staircase walls are boarded to dado level, and doors open from the staircase within round-arched openings corbelled with keystones. The principal room on the first floor to the north, known as the "Long Room", features panelled and pilastered timber architraves and timber boarding to dado. The fireplace surrounds are panelled and pilastered with dentilled overmantels. The roof is boarded and trussed with scrolled corbels. A 1998 folding partition divides the room. Predominantly panelled timber doors are found throughout, with some timber lockers and benches located in the ground-floor changing rooms.