Hem Dock, Symbister, Whalsay

Pier House, located in Symbister, Whalsay, is a former pier house likely built in the 18th century, with alterations made around 1830. This two-storey building has an asymmetrical design and a predominantly rectangular shape, featuring an east gable that projects forward, resembling a prow. It straddles a stone pier that slopes down to the east from the shore and tapers to a point at the northern edge. The pier forms the southern boundary of the dock, which is open to the west and enclosed to the north by another pier. The walls are mainly constructed of random rubble granite, with coursed granite on the east gable and dressed with droved sandstone ashlar.

The east gable features an asymmetrical design with a vertically-boarded timber door on the ground floor to the right of a rubble forestair, and a vertically-boarded timber door on the first floor to the left. The north elevation has a small four-pane fixed timber window on the lower floor to the left of centre, and a single twelve-pane timber sash and case window centred below the eaves. There is also a deep-set vertically-boarded timber infill for a full-height loading bay recess on the outer right, supported by rubble jetties on either side, with a stone slab lintel and a catslide-roofed canopy over a timber hoist.

On the west gable, there is a single twelve-pane timber sash and case window on the first floor to the outer right. The south elevation features a single window on the first floor to the left of centre, while the ground floor is continuous to the right of the east gable, acting as a coped buttress.

The roof is made of stone slabs and is slated, with cut granite skew copes, a block finial on the east gable, and a square gablehead stack with a tapered cope angled towards the west gable.

The hem dock is roughly U-shaped, open to the west, and bounded to the east by a retaining wall above the beach. To the north, it is bordered by a random rubble granite pier that projects southeast from the shore, featuring a sandstone slabbed carriageway and granite steps leading to the water on the southern side.