Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

118-144 (EVEN NOS, EXCLUDING NO 120) LOTHIAN ROAD, AND 1 AND 7 MORRISON ST, LOTHIAN HOUSELB30289

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
19/03/1993
Local Authority
Edinburgh
Planning Authority
Edinburgh
Burgh
Edinburgh
NGR
NT 24797 73111
Coordinates
324797, 673111

Description

Stewart Kaye, 1935, with later additions. 5-storey monumental U-plan symmetrical development of shops, offices (now subdivided into flats) and cinema, with Modern Movement details. Steel frame and composition brick with polished sandstone ashlar (Blaxter Quarry, Northumberland) to principal elevations. Polished granite base course and band courses to ground of E and N elevations; 1st floor channelled with bracketted band course above; giant 3-storey architraves uniting 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor windows of each bay; cornice; parapet.

E (PRINCIPAL, LOTHIAN ROAD) ELEVATION: 31 bays: 3 to each pavilion at corner and in centre; 2 intermediate sections of 10 bays; canted bays to outer right and left. Corner pavilions and ground storey advanced, forming balcony to 1st floor of intermediate bays; pilasters between shopfronts. To right of centre at ground, main entrance to flats; grey polished granite doorpiece with Art Deco mouldings; 2-leaf boarded door with kite-shaped glazing panels and brass fittings; 3-light fanlight with decorative ironwork and bronze cipher. Fluted frieze above granite band courses; balcony to 1st floor windows between outer pavilions. Central pavilion slightly advanced above ground floor; carved stone panel to bracketted band course depicts canal workers; carries motto 'Here stood Port Hopetoun, 1822-1922'; above glazing, 2 stylised stone finials supported on brackets. Corner pavilions: plain ashlar plaques to centre of bracketted band course; 2 stylised stone finials supported on brackets above glazing. Cornice and recessed blocking course to canted bays.

N (SIDE, FOUNTAINBRIDGE) ELEVATION: corner pavilion to outer right; 12 bays extending to left, only 3 original; chamfered bay to Semple Street with polished grey granite doorway to ground. All of corresponding format to principal elevation.

S (SIDE, MORRISON STREET) ELEVATION: corner pavilion to outer left; 3-storey range extending to Semple Street; black glazed tiles to ground floor; 3 recessed entrances, to outer right and left, and to centre; single windows to channelled 1st floor; 2 single windows to left of 2nd floor.

W (REAR, SEMPLE STREET) ELEVATION: 4 bays to outer right corresponding to front elevation. Adjoining block 9 bays; 4 bays to right 2-storey, 5 bays to left 3-storey; 2 recessed doorways to ground; 1st floor channelled; modern block to left; plain masonry rear of cinema to outer left.

2 cast-iron panels with motifs in relief (designed by C d'O Pilkington Jackson) vertically separate glazing of upper 3 stories. Steel-framed windows (supplied by Frederick Braby & Co, Glasgow) to upper floors. Flat roof (originally concrete covered with "Namastic" rock asphalt) to shops and offices; grey slate piended roof to cinema.

Statement of Special Interest

Impressive monumental classical office building, occupying entire length of street. Designed for Sir Albert Ball (Nottingham) Ltd, and built on the site of the Port Hopetoun terminal of the Union Canal. A scheme for the site, drawn up by Robert Mayhew, appears to have been rejected in 1934. Stewart Kaye's initial proposals including a large hotel along Morrison Street and a 3000-seat cinema, entered from Lothian Road, were conceived with government use in mind; the first tenants included the Inland Revenue. The hotel was never built, but the site was subsequently taken up by the Regal Cinema and renamed the ABC in 1969. The cinema was closed in 2000 with the auditorium demolished and redeveloped as offices and a small multiplex cinema (CTA, 2008).

References and notes updated as part of the Cinemas Thematic Study 2007-08.

References

Bibliography

City Archives, Dean of Guild Records, 22/11/1935; LION FOUNDRY CATALOGUE, Vol 1 (7th edition, circa 1935), p167; W Forbes Gray and L Spencer LOTHIAN HOUSE - AN ENTERPRISE IN THE SCOTTISH CAPITAL TO PROVIDE SHOPS AND OFFICES OF A METROPOLITAN CHARACTER (1937), pp1-42; Gifford, McWilliam and Walker EDINBURGH (1991), p268. Cinema Theatre Association, www.scottishcinemas.org.uk, (2008).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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