Boundary Wall, 76 High Street, Paisley

The building at 76 High Street, Paisley, is a former drill hall complex, now disused, designed in the Scots Baronial style by Thomas Graham Abercrombie and built around 1899. It consists of a symmetrical, three-storey and attic office and recreation area facing the street (southeast), a large, red brick drill hall with a shallow segmental-arched roof to the rear, and a smaller gabled secondary hall to the southwest, connected to the drill hall by a single-storey passage.

The front office and recreation section is constructed of squared sandstone rubble with red sandstone ashlar margins, featuring a dentilled cornice and gabled dormers. It is symmetrical, with a central three-storey block flanked by slightly advanced, two-bay gabled wings. These wings have corbelled parapets and corner bartizans, the latter rising from the first floor with bellcast roofs. The gables are topped with semi-circular open pediments, and the first-floor windows have moulded architraves, round-arched pediments, and balconies with metal railings.

The main entrance is centrally located within a keystoned round-arched surround, accentuated by a Doric-columned doorpiece topped with a segmental pediment, broken by a small window and round-arched pediment. The first-floor window surrounds have keystones, moulded architraves, and floating cornices, while the dormers are finished with thistle details.

The roof is covered in red slates, with a central, leaded Art Nouveau bellcote. Some windows are currently boarded, with the remaining windows primarily featuring small-pane glazing within timber sash and case frames. Rooflights are present in the drill hall and the small hall to the southwest. The small hall exhibits small round windows within its gables.

Parts of the interior were viewed, although access to some areas was restricted due to safety concerns regarding the interior’s condition. Within the office and recreation area, some rooms retain timber panelling, decorative cornicing, 6-panel timber doors, panelled timber window shutters, and dog leg staircases with timber banisters and metal balusters. The drill hall is entered via a pair of segmental-arched openings at its southeast end, leading to a viewing platform. The hall itself features wide metal A-trusses supporting the roof, and a series of smaller rooms are located at the northwest end. An enclosed rifle range is situated on the northeast wall, overlooked by a timber bracketed viewing platform accessed through round-arched openings. Rooms flank the platform, each with a window overlooking the drill hall. The southwest secondary hall is timber lined and has a timber roof.

A low rubble boundary wall runs along the street, topped with metal railings, some of which incorporate thistle baluster heads.