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Standing Building Recording
Date 16 May 2018
Event ID 1048622
Category Recording
Type Standing Building Recording
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1048622
AOC Archaeology Group was commissioned by Edinburgh St James Car Park Operating Co Ltd to undertake an historic building survey of the former student accommodation block known as James Craig Court, James Craig Walk, Edinburgh. The works were undertaken in advance of development as part of the planning consent on the renovation of the former late 18th century tenement building. The original tenement block was constructed from 1775 and built in three phases. Including five entrances to a number of tenements, the original building had four floor levels and a basement level with scale-and-platt stairs to each property. In the 1850s, one of the properties was converted to a hotel and another into a Mission Hall in the later 19th century. Between 1902 - 1904, the tenement block was wholly converted for offices for the National Archives with a new Sasine Office also built onto the south-east elevation. New large casement windows were also inserted into the north-west block replacing the original sash windows. The original roof was removed to the rest of the building and a new row of third floor windows and a flat roof installed. The St James Centre development in the 1970s effectively removed and destroyed the character of the original St James Square, to which Nos 27 - 31 formed the south-west side. In 2002, the building was again completely renovated into student accommodation, which caused the replacement of a staircase, the insertion of internal partitions and installation of modern furnishings. A structural watching brief is still required on the building during and after the soft strip to fully identify anything relevant to the history and development of the building, including the positions of former fireplaces, openings and stairs. The results of the structural watching brief will then be incorporated into this report to create a final historic building recording report in the structure.
Information from Diana Sproat (AOC Archaeology Group) May 2018. OASIS ID: aocarcha1-317920
