47 Albany Street, Edinburgh

57-57A Albany Street in Edinburgh is a classical terrace building, likely designed by William Sibbald, dating from the early 19th century. It is two stories high, with an attic and basement, and features 22 bays. The exterior is constructed of polished ashlar sandstone, with V-jointed rustication on the principal floor and rockfaced rustication at the basement. There is a base course and band courses between the basement and principal floor, as well as between the principal and first floors. A cornice and blocking course are present at the first floor, and there are ashlar steps and entrance platts that overhang the basement.

The northern (principal) elevation consists of seven three-bay houses, each with six-panel timber doors that have glazed middle panels at No 55. The outer left and right bays feature a variety of plate glass, decorative, and umbrella rectangular fanlights. Notably, No 49 has an advanced doorpiece with fluted Doric pilasters flanking the door, supporting a lintel topped by a mutuled segmental pediment that has a tooled inscription reading 'Church for the Deaf and Dumb', along with a six-panel timber door and plate glass semicircular fanlight. The remaining bays on the principal floor have windows, while the upper floors and basement maintain regular fenestration. There is a flagged basement area.

The west elevation is adjacent to another building, which is listed separately (39-43 Albany Street), as is the east elevation (24 Broughton Street). The rear elevation was not seen in 1998, but it includes a single-storey hall at the back of No 49, featuring a rubble gable, a modern ridge ventilator, a corniced gablehead stack, and coped skews.

The building predominantly has 12-pane timber sash and case windows and a grey slate roof. There are slate-hung bow-fronted dormers at Nos 45, 49, and 53, while No 47 features a combined slate-hung piended and bow-fronted dormer with two windows. No 51 has a slate-hung bow-fronted dormer and a slate-hung piended rectangular dormer. No 55 includes a slate-hung bow-fronted dormer and a slate-hung piended box dormer, and No 57 has a canted dormer with a conical roof. The property has cast-iron rainwater goods, a rendered gablehead stack, and various corniced and coped broached ashlar ridge stacks with circular cans, along with coped skews.

The interiors were not seen in 1998. The railings consist of ashlar copes topped with cast-iron railings featuring spear-headed and urn finials.