43 William Street, Edinburgh

43 William Street in Edinburgh is a substantial three-storey commercial terrace building with a basement, designed by Robert Brown between 1824 and 1825. The structure features a plain classical style and includes earlier 19th century shop premises. The ground floor is adorned with pilasters, both single and paired, while the basement is finished in droved ashlar, with smooth finishes on the first and second floors. The east elevation showcases squared coursed rubble with long and short ashlar quoins. The entrance platts extend over the basement, and there is a deep band course and cornice at the first floor, along with a banded cill course on both the first and second floors. The eaves are corniced, and ashlar rybats frame the openings on the east elevation.

On the north (rear) elevation, the building continues with three storeys and 24 bays, constructed from roughly squared and coursed rubble, featuring tooled long and short quoin stones. The fenestration is irregular, with tooled rybats for the lintels and cills.

The original shop fronts from the early 19th century include large plate glass windows, while the first and second floors predominantly feature 12-pane timber sash and case windows. The building also has a corniced gable end and ridge stacks topped with modern clay cans. Additionally, there are cast-iron railings at the ground floor that edge the basement recess, complete with fleur-de-lys finials, and cast-iron rainwater goods.