Stromness Public Library, 2 Hellihole Road, Stromness

Stromness Public Library, built in 1905, is a two-storey, three-bay library designed in a plain rectangular shape with Tudor-Gothic details. It features gabletted first-floor windows and is constructed on a rising ground to the west. The exterior is harled with polished sandstone ashlar dressings, and includes hood moulds over the windows, stone mullions and cills, and ball-finialled gablets.

On the north (principal) elevation, there is a stone step leading to a two-leaf, architraved timber panelled door with a rectangular fanlight in the central bay at ground level. Above this door, there is a window hugging the eaves on the first floor. Each bay on both floors has a bipartite window.

The east (side) elevation consists of a two-bay, gabled wall with a window in each bay on both floors. A commemorative plaque is set between the first-floor windows, beneath a corbelled stack at the gable.

The library features two-pane timber sash and case windows with stained glass small-pane top lights. The roof is covered with grey slate and has a decorative pierced red clay ridge, red clay finials, concrete skews, and harled, coped gablehead stacks on the east and west sides. The cast-iron rainwater goods have decorative brackets and hoppers.

Inside, the ground floor has an open-plan layout with a timber reception desk at the centre. The entrance hall and stairs feature a boarded dado, turned timber newel posts with large ball finials, turned timber banisters, and timber handrails. Architraved timber panelled doors are present throughout. The first floor has been converted into an art gallery, and cornices and timber skirting boards remain intact throughout the building.