The Cairns City Council Chambers was constructed in 1929–1930 and is a substantial reinforced concrete structure located on a large corner site surrounded by parkland.

In this first phase of Cairns' development there was a small flurry of building activity (mostly shanties and tent houses), but the town competed with both Cooktown and Port Douglas for the Hodgkinson trade, and made little progress until the establishment of a local sugar industry and the opening up of the Atherton Tablelands' mineral fields, in the early 1880s.

The Cairns hinterland Soldier Settlement Schemes of the 1920s, the completion of the North Coast rail link to Brisbane in 1924, the opening of the Gillies Highway and the Captain Cook Highway, the continued success of the local sugar industry, the expansion of wharf facilities, the extensive re-building necessitated by cyclones in the 1920s, and the poor condition of earlier timber structures, combined to produce unprecedented building activity in Cairns.

The construction of these buildings reflected the confidence of the Queensland Government and the local community in the growth of Cairns as an important regional centre during the interwar period.

This was established in 1886, and in 1893 one allotment of the public market reserve fronting Lake Street was surrendered for a fire brigade station use, and two smaller allotments fronting Abbott Street were included as part of the public market reserve, resulting in the current site configuration.

In July of that year, a deed of grant upon trust for local government purposes was issued to the Cairns City Council for the site.

The Cairns City Council Chambers were designed by the architectural partnership of Hill and Taylor, who were prominent local architects working in North Queensland during the interwar period.

[1] The builder of the Cairns City Council Chambers was Mr Alex McKenzie, and the foundation stone was laid by Mayor Alderman WA Collinson on 20 November 1929.

The Cairns City Council Chambers originally comprised a T-shaped plan with a central columned vestibule (pronaos) to Abbott Street, flanked on either side by three bays of verandah (now enclosed) with each section having a separate hipped roof.

This fence is no longer extant, but its base may survive in the form of an existing concrete upstand along the Abbott Street boundary.

The single-storeyed reinforced concrete structure, designed with classical detailing, has separate hipped roofs clad in ribbed metal sheeting and partly concealed behind a parapet.

[1] The symmetrical main entrance faces Abbott Street to the northeast, with a forecourt area fronting a stylised pronaos.

The entablature has a wide cornice formed by a projecting eave which aligns with the remainder of the building, and the pediment has the name CAIRNS CITY COUNCIL and is surmounted by an acroteria at the apex.

The architectural detailing of the enclosed verandahs fronting Abbott Street is continued to both side elevations, with the parapet wrapping around to the rear of the building.

The portico has a parapet with corner pilasters, and an entablature with a wide cornice formed by a projecting eave which aligns with the adjoining verandahs.

[1] Internally, the building has a large central office and public enquiries area with non-original partitions fronting the pronaos entry to Abbott Street, with the former strong room behind, and the Council Chamber at the rear.

The original verandahs returning along either side of the Council Chamber are extant, however they have been enclosed and additions constructed to infill the rear corners of the structure.