[1] By the end of the nineteenth century, Toowoomba had established its position as the administrative and commercial centre of the Darling Downs, one of the first regions to be settled in Queensland.

Squatters entered the rich pastoral region even before Moreton Bay was opened for free settlement in 1842 and by the mid-1860s Toowoomba had eclipsed its main rival, Warwick, as the largest town on the Darlineg Downs.

[1] As Toowoomba developed, a commercial centre emerged in the blocks bounded by Russell, Ruthven and Margaret Streets.

[1] The Alexandra Building was constructed for TK Lamb and Co., a well-established Toowoomba firm of confectioners and pastry cooks.

Lamb had operated from at least two previous premises in Ruthven Street as a confectioner, baker and caterer with associated refreshment rooms, since 1885.

[1] In 1901 TK Lamb acquired title to the Ruthven Street site of the future Alexandra Building and engaged HJ (Harry) Marks to design a building incorporating street-level shops and a hire-hall for balls, banquets and other large public functions such as public meetings, wedding receptions, parties and concerts.

[1] Harry Marks was one of a family firm of architects which had a lasting effect on the appearance of Toowoomba, being responsible for a large number of the city's public, private and commercial buildings.

Though Harry spent his entire career in Toowoomba and was responsible for designing many buildings on the Darling Downs including Rodway and St Luke's Church Hall, he also designed St James Parish Hall at Coorparoo and another Roman Catholic Church at Bulimba in Brisbane.

Various sub-contractors worked on the building including Wheatcroft and Co. (painters), TS Burstow (fittings) and Keogh and Co. (suppliers of the dining tables and other furniture).

Its construction reflected local confidence in the continued prosperity of Toowoomba and the surrounding district during a period of widespread drought.

It spanned two allotments and had a prominent two-storeyed frontage to Ruthven Street - considered "uncommon, and particularly striking" at the time - with an upper floor verandah with cast-iron balustrade, over the street pavement, and a decorative three-gabled face-brick parapet with the words "Alexandra Hall" in relief on the middle gable.

The ceilings were high, and additional natural lighting was provided from high-level windows in the front and rear elevations.

[1] The Alexandra Hall, which occupied the entire first floor, was accessed via a 7 feet (2.1 m) wide timber staircase from a separate entrance off Ruthven Street, located between the two shop fronts.

The venture proved so successful that in 1905 TK Lamb & Co. erected additions to the rear of the building, comprising a pavilion 32 by 26 feet (9.8 by 7.9 m) and promenade balcony.

The pavilion was accessed via a flight of stairs from the Cafe Alexandra on the ground floor, and could be used as a supper-room, banquet hall, or meeting room.

The upstairs hall appears to have been sub-divided and used for offices by the late 1930s, but the Cafe Alexandra continued to operate on the lower floor.

[1] In 1973 title to the property was transferred from TK Lamb Estates Pty Ltd to the Master Builders Permanent Building and Bowkett Society.

[1] When Brian Hodgen, grandson of well-known Toowoomba architect William Hodgen, purchased the building at auction in 1976 it housed Palmers Silk Centre, McKinstry and Somerville trading as Chas Sankey Fraser (optometrists), and Music Houses of Australia trading as Palings on the ground floor.

It is located on a long and narrow site and consists of a 1902 building (hall and two retail spaces) with 1905 rear addition (former pavilion).

It has two long gable roofs (concealed behind a brick parapet) which extend from the Ruthven Street boundary about halfway back on the site.

To the north of this structure (and immediately behind the northern gable) is a two-storeyed face-brick building (c. 1930s-1940s) with a parapet roof which faces on to Duggan Street and Lamb Lane at the rear.

At the rear the twin gable ends are visible and consist of smooth-rendered brick walls with three high-level windows matching those on the front elevation.

Three sets of high level timber framed, reversible casement windows run along both the northern and southern elevations.

An ornate and colourful leadlight window formed from steel encompassing the letter "A" is visible above the level of the street awning within the southernmost tenancy.

Similar steel-framed windows with clear cathedral-patterned glass are located above a recess in front of the northernmost tenancy the shopfront of which is set back from the street.

Early timber posts and beams with arrissed edge details and which form buttress-like structures are visible along the length of the external walls which support the arched roof.

To the north of these structures are extensions to the northernmost ground-floor tenancy (c. 1930s) as well as a c. 1930s masonry lean-to building housing amenities for the upper floor.

The Alexandra Building, erected in 1902 and extended in 1905, was constructed for successful Toowoomba confectioners and caterers TK Lamb & Co.

It was popular for a variety of social functions including concerts, banquets, wedding receptions, dances and other public entertainments and meetings.

The Alexandra Building with its highly decorated and articulated facade makes a substantial aesthetic contribution to the streetscape of Ruthven Street.