Knox Institute, 21 Main Street, Kilbirnie is a Grade B listed building in the North Ayrshire local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 2 December 1980. 1 related planning application.

Knox Institute, 21 Main Street, Kilbirnie

WRENN ID
veiled-rood-marsh
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
North Ayrshire
Constituency
North Ayrshire and Arran MP: Irene Campbell (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
2 December 1980
Address
Knox Institute, 21 Main Street, Kilbirnie, KA25 7BX
OS grid reference
NS 315 546
Coordinates
55.75538, -4.68535
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Knox Institute, on Main Street in Kilbirnie, is a three-storey corner building constructed in 1892. It has four bays facing west and five bays facing north, with an additional bay at the corner. The exterior is of stugged ashlar stone with polished dressings. The corner entrance is set within a round-headed aedicular surround, with a round-headed window above it. A corbelled angle turret rises at the second floor, featuring three narrow, pilastered round-headed lights, a panelled drum, and a parapet above. Narrow pilaster strips connect the ground floor openings. The north elevation features two entrances, one with a fanlight, and two large shop windows. A continuous cornice runs along the top of the ground floor. The first floor has an off-centre Venetian window flanked by round-headed aedicular windows, and a round-headed window with an apron panel to the left. Panelled pilasters flank the end and corner bays, supporting a frieze and dentilled cornice at both the first and second floors. The second floor has a galleried section with broad, round-headed, pilastered windows, and a small round-headed window in the outer bay. The elevation is topped with a balustraded parapet. The Main Street elevation is similarly detailed, with two large shop windows on the ground floor and two Venetian windows on the first floor. The second floor has two pairs of broad, round-headed windows, leading up to the parapet. End stacks rise from the roof, which is covered in piended slate.

Local climate

Knox Institute, 21 Main Street, Kilbirnie sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,380 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 41 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 21 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Knox Institute, 23 Main Street, Kilbirnie Grade B 7 m
  2. Strathclyde Regional Offices, 37, 39 Main Street, Kilbirnie Grade B 39 m
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  4. 3, 5 Bridge Street, Kilbirnie Grade C 59 m
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