Ewart Library, Catherine Street, Dumfries

The Ewart Library, located on Catherine Street in Dumfries, was designed by Alan B Crombie and built between 1903 and 1904 in the Edwardian Renaissance style. This tall, two-storey library stands freestanding within a garden area.

The library features a symmetrical main frontage made of red ashlar stone, with a channelled ground floor and an Ionic order above. The facade has seven bays, five of which are framed by polished granite columns that support arched windows on the first floor. The broad end bays are adorned with Venetian windows set in coupled pilasters, topped with a pediment. The ground floor windows are transomed, and the end bays also feature mullions. The central entrance is an arched doorpiece framed by banded Roman Doric pilasters, with figures above and a central aedicular inscription panel in between. The slate roof is concealed by a parapet.

The single bay return elevations also include columns or pilasters and pediments that frame the first floor windows. Inside, there is a central staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade and a leaded glass stair window.