Edinburgh’s buildings and skylines are world famous and instantly recognisable as the Scottish capital’s crowning glory.
But shift your eyes and move off the beaten track a little, and there are some incredible buildings that define Edinburgh’s past and present and illustrate a city in the round.
Architecture critic Robin Ward has paced the streets that connect all corners of the capital to produce his latest work, The Pocket Guide to Edinburgh’s Best Buildings.
While a concise guide, the publication reaches far and wide to illustrate a city’s architectural merit and the places which have both stayed the same and changed as Edinburgh too evolved as its military and maritime history shifted along with its political and civic role.
Traces of the city’s industry and how places of work became new homes - and how new homes once protected the city’s workers - is also beautifully documented. Places of worship - old and new - are illuminated too.
After reading - and walking the streets Mr Ward did - someone might just see Edinburgh in a lovely, deeper light.
-The Pocket Guide to Edinburgh’s Best Buildings by Robin Ward in published by Birlinn and available now.
1. Craigsbank Chruch, 19 Craigs Bank, Corstorphine
The Church of Scotland hired architects Rowand Anderson, Kininmonth & Paul to build a replacement kirk as the Corstorphine congregation outgrew its old pews. The result was this "striking modernist box, its concave bell tower like a sail on the community's sea of 1920s bungalows," architecture critic Robin Ward wrote. He added: "The sunken sanctuary is said to symbolise the hidden hillside hollows where Covenanters worshipped during the ‘killing times’ of the 17th century." | Robin Ward Photo: Robin Ward
2. Schultz Chocolate Factory, 102 Inchview Terrace, Portobello
German-born merchant Charles Schultz set up Messrs. Schultz Continental Chocolate Factory in 1906. German workers, most of them women, were employed until World War One, when the building was requisitioned for a barracks. Shultz was declared an "enemy alien". Two of his sons were killedserving with the British Army in France. After the war, the factory became a technical institute and the building converted into flats in 1995. | Robin Ward
3. Drumsheugh Baths, 5 Belford Road, Dean Village
The oldest private baths in Edinburgh, this 1880s gems was rebuilt in 1900 afer the original building was destroyed by fire. The "stairs lead down to a perfect pool, skylit under a timber-framed roof supported by brick arches on cast-iron columns," Robin Ward wrote. The baths are across a Water of Leith footbridge from Dean Village. | Robin Ward
4. Southern Motors Filling Station, 39 Causewayside , Newington
Designed by Basil Spence 1933, this former filling station is considered "the city’s best example of the Bauhaus-inspired International Style". The original Art Deco font remains on the former garage, where offices were cantilevered above the forecourt where motorists pulled in for petrol .Today, the building serves as a wine shop. | Robin Ward