[1][3] It was designed by William Smith in the Scottish baronial style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £2,600 and was completed in 1871.

[1][4][5] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Queen Street.

The right-hand bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a segmental headed doorway flanked by pilasters and brackets supporting a balcony with ornate railings: there was a tripartite window with a panel in the hood mould on the first floor, and a stepped gable above.

[6] A large extension, designed by the Property Services Agency in the modern style, was built on the northwest side of the building, along St Peter Street, and was completed in the late 1990s.

However, after being exposed to sustained adverse weather in a location close to the North Sea, the cladding system started to deteriorate.