Latitude: 55.9379 / 55°56'16"N
Longitude: -3.1816 / 3°10'53"W
OS Eastings: 326286
OS Northings: 672277
OS Grid: NT262722
Mapcode National: GBR 8RL.1X
Mapcode Global: WH6ST.307S
Plus Code: 9C7RWRQ9+59
Entry Name: Fire Station, Sciennes House Place, Edinburgh
Listing Name: Sciennes House Place, Fire Station and Gatepiers
Listing Date: 17 January 1990
Category: C
Source: Historic Scotland
Source ID: 371447
Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB30475
Building Class: Cultural
ID on this website: 200371447
Location: Edinburgh
County: Edinburgh
Town: Edinburgh
Electoral Ward: Southside/Newington
Traditional County: Midlothian
Tagged with: Fire station
Robert Morhma, City Architect 1885. Single and 2-storey, 4-bay fire station. Squared and snecked sandstone rubble with stugged ashlar dressings. Base course; chamfered reveals.
S ELEVATION: 3 near-symmetrical single storey bays of station garage to centre and right; opening at centre widened later (?), and given concrete (with iron beam?), stone corbelled lintel; blocking course above. Gabled bays flanking with further garage entrances; that to left with corbelled and roll-moulded lintel and carved "Fire Station" panel above, below cill of loft door in gablehead. Outer right bay with taller garage door, stone corbelled lintel and bull's-eye window in gablehead, moulded surround and deep set window grille. Piend-roofed 2-storey station-office bay to outer left with chamfered outer angle and canted 1st floor; 2 detached cast-iron columns on stone base course standing proud of irregular tripartite window at ground floor with wrought-iron window guard. Narrow pedestrian door to outer left in chamfered angle. Cill course to 21st floor single window at centre, in line with blocking course.
Rear elevation comprised of single storey piend-roofed range adjoined toouter bays of S elevation; chamfered NE angle with door; windows to E and W ends; further door to N.
Irregular glazing patterns. Panelled folding garage doors, some glazed and some small-paned panels. Grey slates; lead flashing, scalloped on office roof; finial. Ridge ventilator; skylight; louvered timber ventilator to flat-roofed garage bay at centre; set-off wallhead stack to office, altered. Gablet coping to gableheads and blocking course and gablet skewputts.
INTERIOR: enamel tiles to outer right garage bay. Timber stairs to office.
GATEPIERS: stugged sandstone ashlar gatepiers, corniced with pyramidal caps, flanking to E of S elevation.
Robert Morham designed the Police Station (No 10) at the same date, in similar materials, on the corner of Sciennes House Place (formerly Braid Place) and Causewayside. Morham was the City Architect during these years. The earliest plans for the fire station were amended - among the initial proposals were stables, a mortuary, and public conveniences.
The station office to the outer left is describd as "weigh house" on the plans. The U-plan appearance suggests that the centre bay was originally opened and subsequently filled-in, but the plans prove that it was always intended to be covered with the ventilator; the entrance does, however, appear to have received a new lintel at some point.
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