Town Hall, 32-36 Allardice Street, Stonehaven

The Town Hall located at 32-36 Allardice Street in Stonehaven was designed by Matthews and Lawrie from Inverness in 1879, with additions made by D and J R McMillan in 1903. This building is a two-storey and attic structure featuring six bays, arranged in a Renaissance style. It has a plain frieze and cornice above a pilastered doorpiece, along with a five-bay hall at the rear that has a piend roof and a vaulted, galleried interior.

The exterior is constructed of stugged squared rubble, accented with polished and raised red sandstone ashlar quoins and dressings. The hall is made of snecked rubble with stugged ashlar dressings. Notable architectural elements include the base, ground floor cill, band courses, eaves cornice, and parapet. The windows are segmental-arched on the ground floor and round-headed with panelled aprons on the first floor, all featuring keystones.

On the west elevation, there are five symmetrical bays to the right, with a central two-leaf panelled timber door, flanked by windows in the adjacent bays. A band course links the windows at the springing of the arches on the first floor. To the outer left, there is a slightly set-back bay above a pend, featuring a cart arch at the ground level and a single window above. The roof has five pedimented dormer windows set back behind the parapet, adorned with squat urns and a central panel that bears an eroded date.

The north elevation of the hall has four round-arched windows, which are partially obscured by a later lean-to addition, as well as a two-storey crow-stepped wing to the outer left. The windows throughout the building feature 4-pane and plate glass glazing patterns in timber sash and case frames. The roof is covered with grey slates, and there are shouldered and coped ashlar stacks with a full complement of cans, along with ashlar-coped skews.

Inside, the Town Hall retains some fine details, including moulded plasterwork cornices, a timber fire surround, vertically-boarded timber dadoes, and architraved and panelled doors. The broad, top-lit dog-leg staircase has an enclosed balustrade. The public hall boasts a decorative, compartmented vaulted ceiling and a horseshoe gallery with a decorative cast-iron parapet and a stage to the east. Additionally, there is a bronze and marble mural monument dedicated to J W Crombie, MP for Kincardineshire from 1892 to 1908, which was erected by his constituents.