[1] The European presence in the Burnett River area, traditionally the land of the Kalki people, began with pastoralism in the 1840s and 1850s, while timber cutters arrived in the mid-1860s to work the coastal scrub.

The first South Sea Islander (SSI) indentured labour arrived in Bundaberg in 1879 and the sugar plantation system reached its peak in Queensland in the early 1880s.

The Technical College Committee later claimed it had always been opposed to moving to the new site, which it argued was too remote and dangerous for female students to attend night classes.

Large banks of windows were set on the south side, to provide left hand natural light to pupils, and classroom wings were linked by verandahs.

It was under construction in early 1920 when the Railway Department, which sought to build a locomotive depot on the Grammar School Reserve, was forced to back down in the face of public protest.

[37][38][1] The new school building (Block D in 2017) was officially opened by the Minister for Public Instruction, John Huxham, on 24 January 1921.

Three additional piers were provided to support the balance table in the eastern wing (not extant, although their position is still discernible in the understorey's concrete floor).

The windows were casements, and two stove recesses, projecting from the southern elevation of the cookery classroom, had separate skillion roofs with short chimneys.

[47][1] The spacious new grounds in Bundaberg South allowed the high school to finally have sporting facilities: a tennis court was opened in July 1921, and a cricket pitch was formed by December.

Motor shafts were bolted to concrete foundations under the woodworking half of Block G c. 1921,  and in 1923 the school reserve was increased to 17 acres (6.9 ha), 1 rood (11,000 sq ft; 1,000 m2) and 33 perches (830 m2).

[50][51] In 1925-6 the old sugar laboratory was moved from its Quay Street site to the Bundaberg State High School and Technical College, east of Block G - where it was used for woodworking.

Intermediate schools initially catered for years six and seven, and offered vocational subjects: manual training for boys and domestic science for girls.

In 1935 more land was added to the school grounds, this time in the southeast corner, when 1 rood (11,000 sq ft; 1,000 m2) was obtained, opposite Goodwin (now Watson) Street.

The Department of Public Instruction was largely unprepared for the enormous demand for state education that began in the late 1940s and continued well into the 1960s.

New standard types were developed, including a brick veneer, concrete slab-on-ground and steel portal frame structure for manual training in 1958.

[71][72][73] After WWII, similar sawtooth roofed technical college workshop buildings were constructed at Ipswich, Maryborough, Mackay and Cairns.

The current Boreham Street was formed further north by 1984, and the land formerly occupied by houses was added to the school grounds in 1988.

[95] In 2013 the school grounds were extended south to Walker Street, absorbing Barber Park (the former Lady Chelmsford Hospital site).

The roofs are clad with modern steel sheets and have wide eaves lined with v-jointed (vj) boards above exposed rafters.

[1] The building has large banks of timber-framed windows, many of which face south, allowing a high level of natural light and ventilation into the classrooms.

The wall between the verandah and the classrooms retains original double-hung sash windows, some of which have fanlights, and pairs of timber French doors.

The end wings are more intact and retain the original layout although small alterations have been made to the ancillary rooms by removing partitions to combine them.

These rooms are accessed from the verandah via pairs of timber French doors with fanlights and have tall, coved ceilings braced internally with an exposed iron tie rod.

The buildings have large areas windows on all sides to permit high levels of natural light, however, the original timber-framed sashes have been replaced with aluminium framed sliding sashes in all cases except for four banks in the northern wall of Block M. The clerestory windows have been sheeted over or replaced with glass louvres.

Block R has been partitioned to accommodate offices and other small spaces and a suspended ceiling has been installed throughout except in the western end, which retains its original open, lofty spatial qualities.

Two early ceramic sinks are retained in Block M.[1] The school complex comprises many other buildings and structures that are not of cultural heritage significance.

[1] Bundaberg State High School was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 June 2017 having satisfied the following criteria.

Block D demonstrates the principal characteristics of its type through: its highset, timber-framed construction; an open understorey that accommodates a play area and toilets; symmetrical design with wings linked by verandahs; head teacher's room, clerk's room/library, and evidence of the two teachers rooms; lofty classrooms lit by large banks of windows on the southern side to provide left hand natural light to students; and a strong consideration for natural ventilation, including hinged wall ventilation flaps at floor level and distinctive roof fleches.

[1] Blocks R and M are technical college workshop buildings which retain their: large, timber-framed sawtooth roof form; robust structure of long spans creating open floor plans; large areas of windows providing high levels of natural light and ventilation into the interior; and robust use of materials suitable for a workshop environment.

They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.