Old Town Hall, 31, 33, 35 Castle Street, Banff

The Old Town Hall, prominently situated at 31, 33, and 35 Castle Street, Banff, was designed by Thomas Mackenzie of Elgin and constructed between 1851 and 1854. It is an Italianate building of considerable stature, presenting a symmetrical five-bay facade to Castle Street, with a wide return bay extending to Seafield Street and a lower, narrower three-bay wing to the same street. The building is constructed of dark whinstone, accentuated by contrasting polished sandstone ashlar dressings and margins.

The Seafield Street frontage features a ground floor with a central doorway flanked by three shops. The shop windows retain their original size, with pilastered jambs framing the central door and flanking windows. A central Roman Doric doorpiece with a double-leaf panelled door provides dignified access. The first floor is characterised by five tall, long, pedimented, and pilastered windows, each notable for its unusual queen-head capitals. These windows are fronted by balustered aprons connected by a deep corniced bandcourse, and feature horizontal glazing of 12-pane timber sash and case windows. Plate glass has been introduced into the shop windows. The eaves are modillioned, and rusticated quoins are visible. Paired gable wallhead corniced stacks are linked by a three-arched arcade.

A tall, round-headed arch with a balustraded cornice links the hall to No. 29 Castle Street. The Seafield Street return bay of the hall displays three ground floor windows with eight-pane glazing, and a large, first-floor Corinthian pilastered tripartite window featuring a shell motif over the central light, again with horizontal glazing.

A slightly set-back two-storey, three-bay wing adjoins the main hall on Seafield Street. This wing is similarly constructed of dark whinstone with sandstone ashlar dressings. The centre entrance is framed by a plain panelled double-leaf door, and the first floor is distinguished by three long, panelled, aproned windows, with 12-pane glazing in sash and case windows similar to the return gable. Some lower panes on the return gable are blocked. The wing incorporates quoins, decorative long and short window detailing, a wallhead cornice, a rear wallhead corniced stack, and a piended slate roof.

Inside, a Doric columned entrance hall, screened by four columns, leads to a grand imperial staircase with a painted ashlar balustrade. The first-floor hall occupies the entire five-bay frontage, and is dominated by a coffered ceiling supported by six pairs of draped female figures, each holding a laurel wreath. A corniced and canopied pilastered doorpiece and a large north-facing pilastered tripartite window, featuring composite capitals and egg and dart detailing, are also notable features. A later, likely 1930s, chimney piece constructed of heavy polished red granite has been installed. Two smaller first-floor rooms contain plain grey marble chimney pieces.