Kilncraigs Mills (Patons And Baldwins), Alloa

Kilncraigs Mills (Patons and Baldwins) is a large, four-story and attic English-Baroque office building constructed between 1903 and 1904, originally incorporating factory premises. Designed by William Kerr, it was subsequently altered and converted into office units in 2003-04 by LDN Architects. The building’s south elevation is characterized by a monumental, bowed curtain wall. It is constructed primarily of polished sandstone ashlar with rusticated quoins, featuring a chamfered base course, a channelled and corniced ground floor, and a mutuled cornice. Round-headed openings are present on the ground floor, accented by a Gibbsian doorpiece and keystones. Some architraves are shouldered, and a corniced giant order, with Ionic-capitalled, fluted pilasters, flanks alternate bays. These pilasters extend into the third floor, terminating in broken apex pediments above the cornice, while others incorporate the date '1904'.

The west (principal) elevation exhibits a ground-floor arcade with a doorway to the left, and a regular pattern of windows on the floors above. The left side has square-headed windows throughout, with single windows in the center bay at the first and second floors and bipartites elsewhere. The right side mirrors this design with square-headed windows and bipartites on the ground and first/second floors.

The east (entrance) elevation presents a bowed curtain wall with an entrance on its return.

The north elevation displays an asymmetrical fenestration pattern with two ground-floor doorways. Above, it features three floors with bipartite windows in the outer bays, framing a central bay with engaged, lion-finialled columns. A large, elaborate stone dated '1904' sits above a semicircular window, surmounted by a cornice, an aediculed window, and a broken segmental pediment.

The south elevation adjoins a separately listed building from 1936.

The building retains largely original timber sash and case windows with multi-pane glazing, particularly noticeable on the north side. Grey slates cover a shallow, piended, multi-pitched roof. Cast-iron downpipes with a decorative rainwater hopper are also present.

The interior retains much fine detail, notably on the ground and first floors, including decorative plasterwork, architraved panelled doors, and parquet flooring. The principal entrance features bevelled glass to a sunburst-astragalled fanlight over a screen door. The stair hall contains bronze memorials to World Wars I and II, a timber-panelled dado, and a black and white marble floor. A marble dog-leg staircase incorporates timber balusters influenced by the early work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The ground floor offices feature arcaded openings with original doors and glazing, together with a single large cast-iron column. The first-floor boardroom boasts a panelled plasterwork ceiling, a panelled dado, and a Milners Patent Safe. Both floors retain wall-mounted Blackman fans. A first-floor hall is top-lit with decorative coloured glass and a large segmental-headed window (now overlooking the 1936 building) with Art Nouveau-style coloured glass. A further staircase has a ceramic-tiled dado featuring glazed tiles with a green border and Art Nouveau panels. A panelled toilet cubicle includes decoratively glazed lights and a brown and grey marble splashback.