[4] The new building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style, built in red sandstone at a cost of £5,000 and was completed in 1894.

[5][6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with six bays facing onto the High Street; the second bay from the left featured a doorway surmounted by a heraldic panel and flanked by two small stained glass windows; above the doorway were the crests of Scotland, England and Ireland, separated by brackets which supporting a balcony; there was a three-light window on the first floor and a gable containing a small window above.

[1] The third bay from the left, which slightly projected forward, contained a panel, which inscribed with the year 1893, and was surmounted by an octagonal tower with a dome.

[8] The trustees of the institute sold the building to Penicuik Burgh Council in 1959[a] and, after it had been treated for dry rot, it re-opened as the local town hall in 1963.

[11] In late 2020 a programme of works was initiated to restore the outside of the building, to modernise the heating system and to install Wi-Fi equipment.