Bank Of Scotland, 115-117 Commercial Street, Lerwick

The Bank of Scotland building at 115-117 Commercial Street, Lerwick, was designed by John James Burnet and constructed between 1904 and 1906. It is a two-storey and attic, seven-bay near-symmetrical building, built in a Westrenaissance style.

The principal facade is faced with polished red sandstone ashlar, while the side and rear elevations are harled, with polished red sandstone ashlar dressings and details. The design incorporates a base course, stall-risers, a cornice that articulates around the shopfront and terminates in Ionic pilasters, a cill course at the first floor, and a deep, mutuled timber cornice at the eaves, also articulated around a central open pediment.

The north-east elevation, facing Commercial Street, has a wide, central bay topped by a large semicircular open pediment. This is framed by panelled pilasters and features a canted stone porch at ground level. The porch has an architraved surround to a twelve-panel, four-leaf timber door, with a carved armorial panel in the parapet above. Ionic columns flank the door, and narrow windows with shouldered architraves are found in the flanking faces. A tripartite window is positioned above at the first floor. A keystone and shouldered architrave frame the French window at the centre, with flanking lights. A pilastered, segmental-arched window sits in the tympanum, with a corniced cill and consoles supporting a sub-pediment engaging the principal cornice. Carved strapwork flanks the tympanum. Stall-risers are present at ground level in the flanking bays (with the left stall-riser being shorter). Architraved surrounds frame three-light, pilastered windows engaging the frieze above. Regular fenestration is present at the first floor, featuring margined windows and pilasters dividing bays, with brackets beneath the cill course.

The south-east elevation, facing Hangcliff Lane, is asymmetrical, with three bays, the centre bay slightly recessed. It features a door at ground level, a window at first floor, and a tripartite window offset to the right at the second floor within a pedimented gable flanked by multi-flue wallhead stacks. An architraved window is found at the first floor in the bay to the right. A flat-roofed, two-storey wing projects to the left, incorporating paired doors with a short, stylized balustrade terminating a parapet to the west. The elevation curves down to a dwarf wall fronting the elevation on the right, and is surmounted by a steel railing. The railing terminates to the east with a panelled ashlar square pier, featuring a base and corniced cap.

The north-west elevation mirrors the south-east elevation but includes a round-arched window in the gable. A modern door is on the ground floor in the bay to the left, and a bipartite window is to the left of the door in the advanced wing to the right.

Modern glazing is used in the ground floor windows. The first floor windows are 15-pane timber sash and case windows. The French door features 2-leaf glazed timber doors with an 8-pane fanlight and 4-pane flanking lights. A 20-pane casement window is placed within the pediment. The roof is a purple-grey slate piended roof with finials terminating the ridge and segmental-headed, lead-clad dormers containing 16-pane timber sash and case windows. Tall, harled stacks are present on the end elevations and to the west of the centre bay. These are heavily corniced with circular cans.