It was designed by William Stark in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1814.

The central section of five bays was formed by a full-height hexastyle portico with Doric order columns supporting an entablature, a frieze with triglyphs and a pediment.

The end bays, which slightly projected forward, were fenestrated by cross windows on the ground floor and by tripartite windows on the first floor; they were flanked by full height pairs of pilasters supporting an entablature, a frieze with triglyphs and a parapet.

The central pediment above the portico originally contained the coat of arms of the City of Glasgow in the tympanum.

[1] The building was significantly extended to the rear to a design by TBV Consult, the architectural arm of Tarmac Construction, in 1997.