Basic Site Details | Name: | Gorgie District Public Washouses | | Town, district or village: | Gorgie | | City or county: | Edinburgh | | Country: | | | Parish: | | | Status: | | | Grid ref: | | | Notes: | The Lord Provost, Sir Robert K. Inches, recently opened this building, which is the sixth establishment of the kind erected or yet to be built in the city. Owing to the large proportion of two and three apartment houses of the flatted type in Edinburgh, where domestic washing facilities are not of the best, the public washhouse has become a popular institution, and as the charge of 2d. per hour for the use of the facilities afforded is so moderate, the demand for further buildings in other localities is as yet unsatisfied, being postponed only on account of the war.
Externally the buildings are carried out on simple and unpretentious lines, and depend on these qualities for any architectural merit they possess. The building at McLeod Street is entirely built of brick and rough cast. The interior walls of the washing hall are lined with white glazed bricks, the roofs of steel construction, lined with timber boarding and painted in pure white, the roof principals being picked out in green. The entrance is flanked on one side by a large waiting room, and on the other by the control office, which, from its position, ensures surveillance over the washing hall. Over the entrance is a children's creche, where a caretaker looks after the children of the mothers while they are engaged at the washing tub. This is believed to be a commendable provision peculiar to Edinburgh. ..... [Building News February 1917 p172] | Building Type Classification| The building is classified under the following categories: | | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes |  | Wash house | | |
Street Addresses| The following street addresses are associated with this building: | | | Address | Main entrance? | Notes | | McLeod Street | | |
Events| The following date-based events are associated with this building: | | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | 1917 | | Opened | |
PeopleDesign and Construction| The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | James Anderson Williamson | | | 1917 | | City Architect |
Clients| The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | | Name | Notes | | City of Edinburgh | |
ReferencesPeriodical References| The following periodicals contain references to this building: | | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Building News | 21 February 1917 | | | p172 and illustration | | Building News | 28 February 1917 | | | p194 and illustration |
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