Plantations developed in the Cleveland, Beenleigh, and Caboolture districts and new areas along the coast quickly opened up including by the 1870s in the Maryborough, Bundaberg, and Mackay districts with sugar refining beginning on a small scale with the opening of the Yengarie sugar mill near Maryborough in 1873 and later the Millaquin refinery at Bundaberg in 1882.

Moreover, encouraged by Queensland Premier Thomas McIlwraith, southern capital and advanced technology was beginning to reach northern plantations.

The establishment of a local refinery had the added benefit of enabling the company to compete in the refined sugar markets (which were also protected by colonial taxes) in Australia's fourth most populous city.

[1] In 1892 CSR acquired a site beside the Brisbane River of nearly 3 acres (1.2 ha) on the New Farm peninsular by buying up allotments on the recently subdivided Kingsholme estate.

In New Farm, although some industry was already clustered around the river, it was the CSR refinery which provided the catalyst for the development of the Bulimba Reach of the river as a major industrial and warehousing district: the construction of the Bulimba Branch railway line (completed in 1897) being undertaken at the request of CSR who immediately extended the branch line as a siding to the refinery.

Later development of the area to benefit from the availability of both wharfage and rail facilities included the woolstores (the first being erected in 1909) and the New Farm Power House (1928).

The third stage of the development of the refinery was directly related to World War II which saw output almost doubled in response to a combination of government policies for reserving essential commodities such as sugar and the upgrading of equipment including the introduction of carbonation.

Locally, under the auspices of the Brisbane City Council's Urban Renewal Taskforce, industry was increasingly being encouraged to relocate from innercity New Farm.

[3] The 1901 workers’ recreation room has been converted to be a gym and the sections of the wharf and the railway line are incorporated into the public spaces.

The site forms an integral part of the riverfront landscape of industrial elements and is flanked by the New Farm Power Station to the south and extant wharves and woolstores group (a number of which are entered in the Heritage Register) to the north at Teneriffe.

A quadrangle is formed in front of the main building by the arrangement of adjacent structures including the brown room, the laboratory and the wharf.

It is constructed of load bearing masonry walls composed of face bricks laid in English bond, around a combination of timber and cast iron framework.

An externally visible brick fire wall divides the building into five and eight bays, between the refined sugar store and the pan house.

[1] The repetitive quality of the front elevation, which addresses the river to the east, is interrupted by a series of green tinted pivoting windows which are located on the third and fourth levels, immediately north of the fire wall.

A number of pieces of equipment are located in this area and some of the extensions connect the main building to the raw sugar store.

[1] Machinery associated with the sugar refining process is located in all areas, however most has been updated since the establishment of the refinery, with few of the earliest items surviving.

[1] Constructed at the same time as the main building, and located on the south side also addressing the river, the office is a two storeyed structure of face brick laid in English bond.

The original section comprises corrugated iron walls and roof on a concrete base and is located directly to the west of the main building and parallel to it.

The largest addition faces Lamington Street and comprises concrete walls with a sloping corrugated iron roof.

A ventilated ridge runs the length of both sections of the gabled roof and various types of window and door openings are located on the southern side.

[1] Located on the southern side of the office, this building was constructed in two stages and comprises a double gabled structure supported on brick piers.

It is supported by a series of timber trusses from which contemporary light fittings and fans are suspended, and is lined with ripple iron.

These take the form of louvres, double hung windows, and French doors, the latter two of which are divided into a series of uniform horizontal panes.

[1] The flooring on the upper level is of narrow hardwood floorboards which are highly polished, and the ceiling is of sheet lining with pressed metal ventilators running the length of the space on either side.

Other recent buildings on the site include smaller ancillary structures at the northern end, and a guard house at the entrance, all of which are primarily constructed of brick and corrugated iron.

It sits above a concrete and stone retaining wall and runs the entire length of the property apart from a small section between the canteen building and the Hollins site.

The CSR Refinery at New Farm is important in demonstrating the development of one of Queensland's major industries (and one of its largest rural commodities) - sugar.

CSR's Brisbane refinery was built as a direct response to, and is an important illustration of, the effects of the Queensland Government's protectionist trade policies in the decade prior to Federation.

The main building, the laboratory, the brown room, the wharf, the Amenities/Canteen Block, and the open space bounded by these structures and the river, provides an aesthetic focus.

[1] The considerable amount of vegetation which includes trees at various stages of maturity and the many landscape elements such as stone retaining walls, open brick-lined drains, grassed banks and the picket fence along the river front contribute to the aesthetic qualities of the place.