Egyptian Halls
Date 29 October 1997
Event ID 892661
Category Management
Type Site Management
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/892661
Classical with Greek and Egyptian detailing. Symmetrical 4-storey commercial building with modern shops at ground floor, traces of original fascia and shop surrounds; 18 regular bays. Polished ashlar with cast-iron frame. Sash and case windows. 1st floor superimposed antae with richly sculpted brackets before anta pilastrade; 1st floor sculpted, incised cornice. 2nd floor coupled, slim anta pilastrade, rosette frieze, cornice, ante fixae. 3rd floor eaves gallery of squat Assyrian columns, recessed T-pane glazing, rich frieze, modillion cornice, parapet with ante fixae. Built for the iron manufacturer, James Robertson. (Historic Scotland)
Egyptian Halls may go Egyptian on the top storey. But beyond those unpredictable colums are the machine-made metal frames of the windows. Thomson appears to have been an architect whose skills and inventiveness looked forward to the method of mass production of our own day. ( A Gomme & D Walker)
