[3][4] Designed by architect Richard George Suter and built in 1874 by Dennis & Sons with further additions through to c. 1927, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992, due to its historical and architectural significance.

Land and construction labour was often donated by the local people and schools frequently became a major focus within the community as a place symbolising progress, for social interaction, and as a source of pride.

The standard designs were continually refined by government architects in response to changing needs and educational philosophy.

Due to the standardisation of facilities, schools across the state were developed in distinctly similar ways and became complexes of typical components.

[2] The contract to construct the Suter building for the Leichhardt Street schools was let on 5 February 1874 to builders Dennis & Sons, with a price of £1970.

They were timber-framed structures, generally open on all sides although were sometimes partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.

The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron and they had an earth or decomposed granite floor.

[7] The provision of outdoor play space was a result of the early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school.

Educationalists believed gardening and tree planting instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity, improved classroom discipline, developed aesthetic tastes, and inspired people to stay on the land.

More than 50 shade and ornamental trees supplied by the Department of Agriculture were planted in the Leichhardt Street school grounds by its scholars.

[2][10] Over time, the Leichhardt Street schools' Suter building was altered to improve lighting and ventilation of the interior to standard designs by the department.

Banks of casement windows were added to the rear wall to greatly increase the natural lighting and ventilation of the classrooms.

It stood on the highest part of the site, separated from the rest of the school by a tall, concrete retaining wall.

[15] The proliferation of stumps in the understorey was replaced with steel, timber and sometimes concrete trusses that spanned the width of the classroom and provided an unimpeded play space while minimising costs.

They were generally substantial structures of brick and concrete that introduced many innovative ideas that found their way into standard plans.

Its building facing St Paul's Terrace was transferred to the Department of Health and used as the Children's Dental Hospital, operating separating from the school.

[2] Over time, buildings and structures were added to and removed from the school grounds to accommodate different education programs or to provide new facilities.

[2] The Suter building is a one-storey, low-set brick structure with a gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheets.

The verandah is interrupted by a central, projecting gabled classroom and either side of this is an attached pair of timber-framed and -clad teaching rooms.

Surmounting the centre of the roof is a square-based spire and along the ridge are timber- framed, ventilated dormer windows.

[2] The former boys' school high-set building is very intact and stands adjacent to a tall, brick-faced retaining wall on its north-eastern side.

The upper level comprises one large classroom, accessed from both verandahs via timber, double- leaf doors with horizontal-pivot fanlights.

[2] The former practising school building stands on the easternmost corner of the site and faces St Paul's Terrace to the south-east.

The interior layout on both levels is not original; all partitions of the upper floor are demolished to form one large space.

Accessed from a curving driveway from Rogers Street, the long, narrow building is a two-storey, facebrick structure with a hipped, tiled roof.

A verandah, enclosed with more-recent glazing, runs along the length of the northern side and a stair at the entry and at the western end leads down to the lower level (formerly open play space).

[2] The school grounds are terraced to form levelled playing areas and feature mature ornamental trees including: camphor laurels (Cinnamomum camphora), figs, hoop pines, (Araucaria cunninghamii), palms, jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia), poincianas (Poinciana regia), and eucalypts, as well as gardens and other plantings.

[2] Brisbane Central State School was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

It is the last remaining inner-city state school in Brisbane and is important for its historical role in Queensland teacher education.

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