Public Library, 12 Lothian Street, Bonnyrigg

The public library at 12 Lothian Street, Bonnyrigg, was designed by Greig, Fairburn & McNiven and built in 1909, with subsequent additions made at a later date. It is a two-storey, four-bay building constructed in the Arts and Crafts style, with a corbelled corner tower to the east. The exterior is harled with dressings of red sandstone ashlar. Features include a base course, a horizontal sandstone band running from ground level to sill height, a corbelled course between the ground and first floors, stone mullioned windows with transoms, deep eaves, and timber bargeboards.

The main, south-east-facing elevation has bays grouped as three and one. The two-storey corner tower, polygonal at its base and corbelled to a circular shape, is set in the outermost right bay and wraps around the east angle. It features a corniced and flattened Tudor-arched doorpiece with a timber panelled door, flanked by narrow windows. A heraldic shield tablet sits above the doorway, and a single window with a decorative cherub in a pediment is at first-floor level. The tower is finished with an ashlar parapet featuring decorative bosses along the lower cornice. A more elaborate advanced doorpiece with a four-centred arched doorway and a “Public Library” tablet is centrally positioned, with a hemispherical console hood above. A timber panelled door is set within. A large, tripartite, mullioned and transomed window breaks the eaves in a half-timbered gable at first-floor level. Similar tripartite windows are at ground level, with matching tripartite, half-timbered gabled windows above in the flanking bays.

The north-east-facing elevation consists of two storeys and three bays, with a lower, two-storey, two-bay wing projecting to the right. A flattened, ogee-arched doorpiece with a blank tablet above is in the central bay, incorporating a timber panelled door and a bipartite, mullioned and transomed stair window above. Tripartite windows are at ground level and bipartite windows at first-floor level in each of the left-hand bays. A timbered gable and a harled, coped stack are located in the outermost left bay above. A tripartite window is at ground level in the bay to the right, with a bipartite, gabled dormer window above. Another tripartite window is at ground level, with a corresponding bipartite, gabled dormer window in the outermost right bay. A bracketed gutter runs continuously through the dormers.

The windows feature a leaded small-pane glazing pattern, with various opening mechanisms including casements, hoppers, and sash and case windows. The roof is piended and covered with green slate, with cast-iron rainwater goods. The interior was not inspected in 1996.