Adam Smith And Beveridge Halls, Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy

Adam Smith and Beveridge Halls, Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy

A substantial Baroque hall designed by Dunn and Findlay between 1894 and 1899, with internal alterations carried out in 1973 and 1994. The building is two storeys tall with a basement and attic, comprising 13 bays arranged in groups of 3-3-1-3-3. It features a piend- and pyramidal-roofed design with a distinctive semicircular Ionic portico, arcaded belvederes, and a lead dome.

The exterior is constructed in dressed ashlar with raised margins in places, combined with stugged squared rubble. A base course, string courses at the first floor cill level, and an eaves cornice with blocking course run around the building. Openings include segmental and round-headed examples, bull's eye windows, and Gibbsian surrounds to the ground floor. The west and south elevations feature corniced and architraved windows at first-floor level, with keystones, chamfered arrises, and stone mullions throughout.

The principal (west) elevation is symmetrical. Three steps lead up to a slightly advanced centre bay containing a keystoned, segmental-headed doorway in a moulded surround, fitted with a two-leaf panelled timber door and small-pane fanlight, flanked by lamps. Above this, a balustraded parapet frames a keystoned Venetian window with a shaped cornice, flanking engaged Ionic columns, and a semicircular pediment breaking through the eaves. A polygonal lead belvedere sits on the roof ridge behind, adorned with decorative aprons, a balustrade, cornice, and a finialled dome. Three bays to the right of centre display round-headed windows at ground level and corniced windows above with Ionic pilasters between bays. The outer right bays are advanced with pyramidal roofs, featuring a broad segmental-headed three-part window at ground level and three corniced windows above. The bays to the left of centre mirror those to the right, except for the advanced outer left bays which contain a keystoned, segmental-headed, banded doorway with a two-leaf panelled timber door and small-pane fanlight at ground level.

The south (St Brycedale Avenue) elevation comprises 10 bays in groups of 3-1-5-1. Five set-back bays to the right of centre are divided by slightly advanced piers. At ground level, steps lead up to an Ionic columned semicircular portico with a corniced frieze and balustrade at the centre, with two windows in the flanking bays and five bull's eye windows at first-floor level. A parapet above the windows is joined to a set-back attic by heavy scrolls dividing bays, which contain round-headed, banded, and keystoned windows. A belvedere (as detailed above) sits at the centre of the roof ridge. Advanced flanking stair towers frame this composition; the western tower is crowned with a lead dome. Each tower features a pedimented, banded doorcase, two closely-set small windows above, two closely-set windows at first-floor level, a cornice, and a plain parapet. Three further advanced bays to the outer left display segmental-headed windows at ground level, a keystoned Venetian window to the centre at first-floor level, and corniced windows in the flanking bays. Two wallhead stacks rise above the flanking centre bay. A flat-roofed, dry-dash extension extends to the outer right.

The north elevation displays three ashlar bays to the outer right with segmental-headed windows at ground level and three windows at first-floor level, the centre one being tripartite. Recessed rubble bays to the left are interspersed with modern dry-dash extensions, but retain Venetian windows at first-floor level in narrow gables to right and left. Further recessed centre bays contain two bull's eye windows visible at first-floor level and a set-back attic with three semicircular windows.

The east elevation has asymmetrical fenestration to the centre bays, flanked by dry-dash extensions.

Throughout, small-pane glazing is housed in timber sash and case windows. Coped ashlar stacks with cans, ashlar-coped skews with moulded skewputts, and cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and fixings complete the external detailing.

The interior is largely modern but retains a winding stair with cast-iron balusters and a timber handrail. The auditorium has a raked floor. A bust of Adam Smith is displayed in the foyer.

A low saddleback-coped boundary wall runs along the south and west sides, with semicircular-coped rubble walls to the north and east. A piend-roofed outbuilding of squared and snecked rubble stands nearby, with a door to the west and a sliding timber garage door with flanking windows to the south.