Binns, 144, 145, 146, 147 Princes Street, Edinburgh is a Grade B listed building in the City of Edinburgh local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 28 March 1996. Department store. 5 related planning applications.

Binns, 144, 145, 146, 147 Princes Street, Edinburgh

WRENN ID
south-finial-linden
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
City of Edinburgh
Constituency
Edinburgh North and Leith MP: Tracy Gilbert (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
28 March 1996
Type
Department store
Address
Binns, 144, 145, 146, 147 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4BL
OS grid reference
NT 246 736
Coordinates
55.9504, -3.20759
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Binns is a six-storey inter-war classical department store located at the corner of Princes Street in Edinburgh, designed by J R MacKay in 1935. The building features polished cream sandstone ashlar with bronze framing around the glazing. It has a canted corner with a single strip window at the cornice level, marked by a carved letter "B," and a small window above, with the parapet slightly raised to resemble a symbolic tower. An elaborate mechanical clock, which features figures that appear, is cantilevered out at the second-floor level. The ground floor has plate glass shop windows framed by polished black marble fascia. The first floor is characterized by channelled rustication, with a band course that supports giant three-storey Doric order columns in antis above, and curtain wall glazing divided by bronze panels. The cornice is topped with a full ashlar attic storey. The building has three bays facing Princes Street and one bay facing Hope Street. The windows are bronze multi-pane casement windows. The interior has been converted for modern retail use.

Local climate

Binns, 144, 145, 146, 147 Princes Street, Edinburgh sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 970 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 53% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 5 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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