Car Factory, Edinburgh Road, Heathhall, Dumfries

The Car Factory on Edinburgh Road in Heathhall, Dumfries, was built in 1913 based on designs by Albert Kahn for the Arrol Johnston Motor car manufacturing company and is now a tyre factory.

This substantial three-storey factory block features an international style and has a roughly rectangular plan built around a partly-roofed courtyard. It has a ferro-concrete frame with brick and glass infill. The long west elevation consists of 17 bays, with a two-bay wide factory entrance located off-centre to the left, which includes a gatehouse and wrought-iron gates set back behind a pilastered fascia. The main pedestrian entrance is in the adjoining bay and features a wide, panelled two-leaf door with a large fanlight in convex reveals. A cornice with a blocking course runs across the front elevation. All bays are similarly detailed, with three-quarters glazed over back infill panels that continue for one bay on the return elevations; the other wallheads are finished with continuous iron handrails, and there is a plain parapet above the two entrances. The factory has a flat roof.

To the left, there is a two-storey brick-built range that is recessed, along with a plain three-storey six-bay block beyond, which also has a reinforced concrete frame. The north elevation is asymmetrical, while the long south elevation features a four-storey block flanked by three-storey ranges, with tall elevator towers at either end.

The factory is set behind low quadrant walls with plain iron railings.