Brigade Court, 96-102 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock

Brigade Court, 96-102 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock

A 4-storey Art Deco former fire station designed by Eric Hurcomb for Hay & Steel in 1937. The building is constructed in red brick with pressed concrete mouldings and Mayan detail dressings, featuring a recessed centre section and cantilevered canopy on the principal elevation. A concrete base and sill courses run throughout, with lintel courses extended to returns forming band courses. The rear elevation is finished in painted brick.

The principal western elevation displays a sophisticated composition of three central bays with slightly advanced three-bay wings flanking either side. The ground floor centre contains three former vehicle entrances, now sealed, originally marked by projecting red brick pillars with flanking windows beneath a semi-circular canopy band. The flanking bays retain plate glass shop windows with high transoms for advertising. Above the entrances, a blind concrete section leads to the red cantilevered canopy, which bears a central plaque. The first, second and third floors feature a pair of full-height concrete pillars to the centre with a narrow window between them and flanking windows, while the outer bays display tripartite windows at each floor. Pressed square concrete plaques decorate the storeys, with the Kilmarnock coat of arms on the lower example and a stylised fire brigade logo on the upper.

The slightly advanced left wing features a ground floor architraved concrete door surround dressed to resemble ashlar blocks, containing a semi-glazed door with a separate rectangular fanlight above. A shop window occupies the left bay, whilst the right bay holds a semi-circular arched window. Above, the first, second and third floors are lit by a single window to the left, a tripartite window with brick mullions to the centre, and a four-pane semi-circular arched window to the right bay. The slightly advanced right wing mirrors this arrangement with a central architraved concrete door surround and semi-glazed door with rectangular fanlight, a semi-circular arched shop window to the left bay, and a later entrance door to the upper floors with glazed panel and large glazed fanlight to the right bay. The upper floors feature a four-pane semi-circular arched window to the left bay, a tripartite window with brick mullions to the centre, and a window to the right.

The southern elevation is a blind red brick wall with concrete band courses, largely concealed at ground floor by a much later single-storey building. The rear eastern elevation incorporates a projecting ground floor extension featuring three former vehicle pends that have been infilled and painted, with a central-left window and terraced roof. The main building's ground floor shows a door with full-height stair window to the extreme left, whilst the first, second and third floors feature open balconies with a squared bay to the left and variously fenestrated flats at each level. The right section comprises three bays with an elongated stair window to the ground and first floors, partially concealed by the extension on the left. The first floor displays a single centre window and left door; the second and third floors contain pairs of narrow windows to the left, a single centre window, and a bipartite window to the right. A window to the left return appears on the first floor, with doors to the left return on the second and third floors. The northern elevation adjoins an earlier three-storey tenement.

Windows throughout the building comprise a mix of materials: replacement PVCu windows to the western elevation, two-pane plate glass windows to the retail units with additional long upper lights, and two and four-pane windows to the rear. Metal-framed, lying-pane windows light almost the full height of the rear stairs and a smaller stair window to the north-east. The roof is flat and concealed behind a parapet of unknown material. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods serve the building.

The ground floor has been converted from its original fire engine garage into retail units with store rooms to the rear. The upper levels, formerly offices and firemen's accommodation, now comprise self-contained residential units. The building retains its original stair tower to the south-east and the rear balconies.