N Peal Factory, Victoria Road, Hawick

2-storey and attic, 8-bay, rectangular-plan office building with striking 5-stage Modern Movement water tower and single-storey sheds to NE and NW. Harled brick and red ashlar sandstone dressings. Ashlar base course, pronounced cornice to 1st floor, moulded eaves course. Regular fenestration with margined openings to all floors. Multi-pane top hopper windows, cast-iron rainwater goods.

One of the more distinctive buildings related to the Hawick textile industry, the former Turnbull's office block has considerable architectural quality in terms of its detailing, and the contrast between the light render and red brick. The tower is a striking addition to the townscape and is designed in a proto-Modernist style, the earliest example of this style to appear in Hawick. It is believed to have held a water tank for sprinkler systems. Overall the office building dominates the surrounding streetscape, much of which has been redeveloped. As such the building forms important evidence of the dominance of the textile industry in the town, and the grandeur of many of the buildings associated with it.

Alexander Inglis (1877-64) was the nephew of the Hawick joiner-architect John Inglis, to whom he was initially apprenticed. He was subsequently articled to James Pearson Alison, Hawick's most prominent architect, from August 1891 until 1896, and remained there as an assistant, studying under the South Kensington Schools and spending his holidays and spare time visiting the Borders abbeys; later travels took him to France and Spain. By 1900 he had become an extremely competent designer in the Lorimer mode and had his work illustrated in 'The Builder'. In January 1901 he moved to the office of Leadbetter & Fairley in Edinburgh, but he left at the end of the same year to return to Hawick following the death of his uncle and his inheritance of the joinery business, which he continued as both architect and contractor from the beginning of 1902. By 1911 he had established a Building Construction course in Hawick which had been taken over by the School Board there.

Turnbull's was the largest dye works in the Borders. A reinforced concrete building was added in 1920 and demolished in 1990, along with the chimney which bore the letter T. (Historic Environment Scotland List Entry)

July 2011: External inspection finds this fine building, some parts of which are in better condition that others. Felt tile roofs are in need of maintenance, there is evidence of dampness at wallhead gutters, many window panes ae broken with others boarded up. The building, understood to have last been in use as a knitwear factory, is being marketed for sale as a development opportunity through agents Jim Hay Estate Agents at guide price £250,000.

November 2011: The property is noted as being under offer.

10 November 2016: External inspection finds the former office block, now fully boarded up, in much the same condition as seen previously. Mill ranges to the rear continue to deteriorate.