[1] The drill halls at Annerley were constructed in 1914 and 1954 to designs prepared by the Office of Queensland Government Architect, Department of Public Works.

Volunteer units were formed from 1860 onwards and regular training camps were organised as citizen soldiers became the foundation of the State's defence.

These camps were held so that the various individual groups could train in larger numbers, a necessary requirement if they were to be an effective fighting force in the event of war.

After the passing of the 1884 defence act the government authorised the construction of a large number of drill halls around the colony.

Many were built in the suburbs of Brisbane, and in the major towns such as Ipswich, Warwick, Gympie, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns.

Drill Halls were built to a standard design in central locations to provide the organisational structure and all weather sites for militia and cadet training.

Head Commonwealth architect, John Smith Murdoch observed in 1915:[1] "... the Minister of Defence laid down the principle that we were to put the cost of drill halls down to bedrock, there being so many required; and those drill halls are made of wood and iron and are found good enough..."[1] The Commandant of the first military district applied for suitable land to the Stephens Shire Council from late 1912 to early 1913, but was rejected on both occasions.

When it was inspected, the land was found to be in a well-elevated position within easy distance of the Ipswich Road Tramway Terminus.

It comprised a meeting hall, covered so that night time drilling could occur, with offices for each of the companies assigned to Annerley.

During World War II, encampments for personnel of the Australian and United States armed forces were placed wherever space could be provided.

The siting of the building on the western boundary of the land allowed a metalled parade ground to be prepared between the original drill hall and the modern one.

In 2004 the Queensland Heritage Council approved the adaptive reuse of the place for residential purposes, including subdivision, constructions of new dwellings and demolition of ancillary structures.

The rectangular site has a long frontage to Dudley Street to the south, with a wide, gated entrance through the galvanised pipe and chain wire fence.

The principal alterations to the building include the addition of a verandah with flanking enclosures at the south end, forming an entrance porch facing Dudley Street.

A large skillion roofed shed sheeted with ribbed colourbond metal, with a roller shutter door is located along the Waldheim Street side to the north of the parade ground.

The site has been cut to form the level parade ground, and there are battered retaining walls to the north and east.

[1] The former Annerley Army Reserve Depot was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005 having satisfied the following criteria.

The former Annerley Army Reserve Depot is significant in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as the drill halls (1914 and 1954) located on the site are good, intact, surviving examples of their respective type and period and demonstrate the development of the site as a militia training depot, following the amendments to the Defence Act.

The original drill hall (1914), which retains its early form, demonstrates the establishment of compulsory militia force in Australia in 1911.

The Annerley Army Reserve Depot is significant in that the place demonstrates a continuity of military use from pre-World War I to the late 1990s.

The two main buildings on the site are significant as good, intact examples of the types of drill halls built by the commonwealth government during their respective periods of construction.

In the 1914 drill hall, the use of corrugated iron and timber was in response to a need for the buildings to be constructed efficiently and economically.

[1] The 1914 building is one of six that survive in Queensland, the others being located at Toowoomba (relocated), Albion, Kelvin Grove (ex-Toowong), Maryborough and Rockhampton (ex-Mt Morgan).

Drill halls from the mid-1950s period were constructed to a standard design with some variations in each state relating to configuration and materials.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.