The first building to be erected on this site in 1881 was the brick post office. Designed by FDG Stanley, and built by W Macfarlane it accommodated the one room post office on the ground floor and the post master’s residence with three bedrooms upstairs and living area in the basement. The design featured an arcade on the ground floor with a verandah above and a gabled roof. When the post office closed in 1889, the building became the mechanics’ institute, and in 1893 the building was taken over by the South Brisbane Municipal Council. The corner section was built in brick in 1897 to the design of John Henry Burley in sympathy with the earlier building. The building then served as the South Brisbane Municipal Library and Technical College. The concert hall was added at the rear in 1902. The design of Alexander B Wilson included classrooms for the technical college in the basement. This brick section with arched windows presents as single storey at street level. The length of the  corrugated iron hipped roof has a raised roof ventilator. The classrooms were no longer needed when the government assumed responsibility for technical education in 1909, and the space was integrated with the library to create a new gallery which opened in 1914.

Later changes included the rendering of the original post office façade, and enclosure of the verandah and arcade between 1910 and 1920. After the Brisbane City Council took over the building in 1925, the concert hall continued in use, and the library remained open until 1973. A major refurbishment was done in 1988 for the World Expo. In 2009 the building housed the film school of Griffith University.

Reference: Queensland Heritage List, http://www.epa.qld.gov.au