Islesburgh Community Centre, King Harald Street, Lerwick

Islesburgh Community Centre is a Scots Baronial former school designed by John M Aitken and completed in 1902, with additions made in 1933. It stands on King Harald Street in Lerwick.

The building comprises a symmetrical arrangement of a 3-storey, 3-bay principal block with lower 3-storey, 2-bay wings flanking to north and south. From each wing extends a 2-storey, 10-bay classroom wing to the rear, creating an overall U-plan. The walls are built in stugged, squared and snecked sandstone with stugged, droved and polished ashlar dressings. A base course runs at ground level, with string courses articulated around lintels, a cill course at first floor, and string and eaves courses at second floor.

The east principal elevation features a gabled and slightly advanced centre bay. At ground level stands a modern pointed-arched opening beneath a modern inscription flanked by quatrefoil decoration. Above this runs a hoodmould articulated around a segmental-arched panel containing the inscription "CENTRAL PUBLIC SCHOOL 1902". Four-light mullioned and transomed windows occupy the floors above, with a second-floor window set within a hoodmould articulated around a pointed-arched panel bearing the burgh arms. The flanking bays contain transomed bipartite windows at all floors, those at second-floor level set beneath pointed-arched lintels. A framed stone plaque at ground level to the outer right reads "Foundation Stone Laid 7th August 1901 by John M Aitken, Arch." Circular bartizans with blind arrowslits, quatrefoils, and machicolated and corniced eaves corbelled out at the corners frame the second floor. The 3-storey 2-bay wings are recessed to right and left, accessed by concrete covered steps with stugged and coped sandstone balustrades leading to pointed-arched doors inscribed "GIRLS" and "BOYS". Single windows centre the second floor above these doors, with bipartite windows in the outer bays at each floor.

The north elevation shows the gable end of the principal block with a bipartite mullioned and transomed window to the outer left and a centring gablehead at second-floor level. The north wing's gable contains bipartite windows at each floor to the outer left, with stair windows at the outer right. The classroom wing extends to the right across 10 bays, grouped 3-3-4, with bipartite windows inserted in the centre bays of each 3-bay group.

The south elevation mirrors the north elevation except that the classroom wing's 3-bay groups have no bipartite windows inserted.

Modern glazing has been installed throughout. The roofs are finished in purple-grey slate. A square lantern centring the ridge of the principal block comprises a slate-hung battered base, louvered timber sides corniced at the eaves, topped by a bell-cast pyramidal roof surmounted by a bird weathervane. Conical bell-cast roofs with ball finials crown the bartizans. The east gable of the principal block is crowstepped with an octagonal shaft finial engaged at the apex. Crowstepped skew copes flank coped 2-flue apex stacks with circular cans serving the principal block and wings. The classroom wings have ashlar skew copes and coped single-flue apex stacks with circular cans.

The interior contains symmetrically disposed timber stairs in the north and south wings, featuring turned spindles and newels with urn finials. A pyramidal cupola rises over a central hall at first-floor level, which formerly held a galleried balustrade around its perimeter. A basket-arched arcaded screen to the east leads to a staircase behind, fitted with decorative cast-iron balusters and a timber handrail. Classrooms are finished with vertically-boarded timber wainscoting and pointed-arched door openings with panelled doors featuring 6-pane uppers.

Two playshelters orient north-south and flank the rear wings of the main building. Both are roofed in purple-grey slate with basket-arched openings now infilled.

The boundary comprises a coped random rubble retaining wall along King Harald Street, surmounted by iron railings with finialled stanchions. Flanking gatepiers feature droved ashlar construction with stop-chamfered shafts, bases, and pyramidal caps. Two-leaf iron gates remain, together with 3 cast-iron lamp standards. Walls are terminated to north and south by matching piers, with coped random rubble boundary walls extending along both sides.