20 Albert Street, Kirkwall

20 Albert Street in Kirkwall is a 17th century house that has undergone later alterations. It is a two-storey building with an attic and a rectangular plan, currently converted into a shop on the ground floor. The house features a single bay crowstepped gable facing the street and is situated at the junction of Albert Street and Laing Street, on a site that rises to the northeast.

The ground floor has been re-harled to the Albert Street side, while the northwest side is harl-pointed, and the remaining elevations are cement-rendered and lined. There is a base course and a band course between the ground and first floors, with plain cement margins around some windows on the Laing Street elevation.

On the southwest elevation facing Albert Street, there is a large shop window with a modern glazed door to the left, along with a modern fascia above. A window is set to the left on the first floor, with an attic window above it, and there is a gablehead stack.

The southeast elevation on Laing Street is irregular with four bays. It features a crowstepped wallhead stack in the center, a first-floor window in the bay to the left of center, and a large shop window at ground level in the outer left bay, with a window above it. There are also windows at each floor in the bays to the right of center.

The northwest side elevation is irregularly fenestrated, with a first-floor window in the center bay. There is a boarded door at ground level with a window above in the outer right bay, and a shop window at ground level in the same bay.

The building predominantly has 12-pane timber sash and case windows, a grey slate roof with a stone ridge, and a cement-rendered and lined, corniced wallhead stack on the southeast side. There are similar gablehead stacks on the southwest and northeast sides, with both uPVC and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior has been converted to a shop on the ground floor, with the upper levels remaining unseen since 1998.