Former Commercial Bank, 8 Albert Street, Kirkwall

The Former Commercial Bank, located at 8 Albert Street in Kirkwall, was designed by David Rhind around 1863 and has undergone later alterations. This three-storey, three-bay building features a near-symmetrical, square-plan Italianate style. It has decorative bracketed overhanging eaves and round-arched, corniced windows on the first floor. The exterior is made of stugged cream sandstone ashlar with polished ashlar dressings, while the sides are finished with re-pointed squared rubble. Architectural details include a base course, a wide band course between the ground and first floors, a cill course on the second floor, and a cornice course below the bracketed eaves. The first-floor round-arched windows have moulded surrounds with panelled spandrels, while the second-floor windows feature moulded, shouldered architraves and corniced cills. Long and short quoins add to the building's character.

On the principal (north) elevation, there is a pilastered and corniced doorpiece at ground level in the bay to the left of centre, featuring a two-leaf timber panelled door with a floreate carved lintel and a rectangular fanlight with margin lights. Above this door, there is a window on each floor. A modern shop window, which spans the central and right bays at ground level, is also present, along with a window in each bay above. To the outer right, there is a flat-roofed, slightly recessed single-storey bay with two narrow lights.

The east side elevation is two bays wide, with two windows set closely in each bay at ground level and a window in each bay above. There are paired wallhead stacks with a coped and panelled parapet wall between them at the top. The ground level features a modern shop window on the north elevation, while the other windows are predominantly two- and four-pane timber sash and case. The roof material is not visible, but there are ashlar coped stacks on the east side and predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods.