Ossington Hotel, 26 West George Street, Kilmarnock

Ossington Hotel, 26 West George Street, Kilmarnock

A corner block built in 1883, comprising two storeys with attic and basement, designed in French Renaissance style and formerly used as a hotel. The building is now in mixed commercial use.

The principal elevations display polished red Ballochmyle ashlar to the ground floor, with coursed red sandstone rubble above to the first floor and to all rear and side elevations. Segmental-arched windows with keystones punctuate the first floor. String courses and an advanced eaves cornice with low parapet define the roofline.

The west principal elevation is essentially eleven bays, organised into three blocks. The first three bays contain three regularly placed shop windows to the ground floor; the first floor features a projecting stone balcony springing from the cornice with a window behind, flanked by advanced pilasters, segmental-arched windows with apron panels to the outer bays, and a central attic dormer with roof light to the right. Bays four to eight comprise three former long windows at ground level, the outer bays now altered to form doors; the first floor has paired segmental-arched windows to the outer bays with a similar single window to the centre, and five matching attic dormers. Bays nine to eleven are treated as a distinct composition: the ninth bay features a stepped, pilastered door surround with moulded consoles supporting a cornice, a triangular pediment to the centre, and vased plinths to the flanks; the tenth and eleventh bays contain giant windows adjoining each other. The first floor of this section has slightly advanced outer bays with aedicule-style surround windows featuring channelled pilasters and triangular pediments breaking the eaves, the top of the door surround engaging with the window to the left, an apron panel below the far right window, and a tripartite window to the centre with apron panel below. The attic level has a pair of modern dormers to the centre and former pediment tops flanking.

The north elevation is two storeys in three bays, with a central door surround featuring roll-moulded arrises and large rectangular windows to the flanks. The ground floor angles are curved with squared corbels rising to the first floor cornice. The first floor has a central three-sided projecting bay window with pilasters to the flanks and a triangular pediment with blind shield above; segmental bipartite windows flank this feature beneath an eaves cornice with shallow parapet. Modern dormers punctuate the outer bays of the attic.

The east elevation comprises essentially three stepped blocks. A canted side return of the north elevation to the right contains a ground floor window to the left and a first floor window to the left of each bay, with a paired attic dormer to the left bay. The central section presents a canted four-bay elevation divided 3 and 1, with a two-storey extension featuring a partially columned ground floor. To the right bays: a single basement window, a tripartite ground floor window, and a single first floor window. To the left bays: a lower ground floor door left in a stilted two-storey single-bay lean-to addition and a main building door to the right; three regularly placed ground floor windows with the left bay in the lean-to extension; and three regularly placed first floor bays with matching attic dormers. To the left, a three-storey and attic two-bay elevation contains single basement windows, tripartite windows to ground and first floors, and a central bipartite window to the attic.

The south elevation was the former blind end and is now concealed behind the remaining inner wall of 6-12 John Finnie Street, the former Operetta House (whose facade is listed separately).

Windows throughout the principal elevations are seven and fourteen-pane timber sash and case windows, with upper sashes divided into six and twelve panes and lower sashes into two or single panes. The rear of the building features two-pane timber sash and case windows with horned upper sashes. The older attic pavilion has two and four-pane timber sash and case windows with segmental arch heads to the upper sashes. Later squared, bipartite three-pane flat-roofed timber dormer windows occupy the centre of the roof. The roof is piended grey slate, platformed to parts of the later attic level, with fish scale detail to the former pavilion roof on the right hand of the west elevation. Aluminium ridging, flashing and valleys have replaced original materials. A stone tripartite wallhead dormer sits to the right of the west elevation; flat-roofed timber dormers with shallow aluminium cheeks are found to the heightened roof and rear of the property. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods with gutters concealed within the eaves cornice complete the external finish. A coursed red sandstone roofline stack aligned with the former entrance door carries a plain yellow can; a smaller gablehead stack to the south elevation (now missing cans) and a similar stack to the rear of the former north pavilion roof are also present.

The ground floor interior has been modernised to accommodate estate agent and public house uses. Alterations were made circa 1920 to the upper accommodation and roof; these have since been further modernised and were not inspected as of 2001.