[1] The place which functioned as the Queensland Police College until 2012 at Chelmer, was established c. 1900 as a private residence, with additions in the form of staff quarters and a ward block constructed between 1941 and 1942 when the house was converted into a convalescent hospital for the Australian Red Cross Society.

In February 1901, a Brisbane Courier newspaper article identified the Steele family as residing at "Waterton", Chelmer, a name that remained in use during its earliest years.

[1] Title to the property passed in September 1913 to Alison Eavis Harding Frew (1883-1952), a prominent Queensland civil engineer, who resided there until c. 1940.

[1] In 1938, Harding Frew acquired two blocks of land adjacent to the southern border of his Laurel Avenue property, creating an estate of approximately 3.75 acres (1.52 ha) with a long river frontage.

In 1941, Brisbane architects Roderic Walter Voller, Ronald Martin Wilson, and Edward James Archibald Weller, as Honorary Architects to the Australian Red Cross Society, jointly called tenders for a new dormitory and officers' quarters for the Red Cross Society's Lady Wilson Convalescent Home at Chelmer.

Photographs of the "Chelmer Convalescent Home", taken in August 1944, reveal that the northern addition to the house, which comprised the staff quarters, was constructed by this date.

The WRAAC had been established in 1951 in response to a severe manpower shortage created by the demands of the Korean War and national service in a time of full employment.

Bathrooms and toilets (which appear to have occupied an earlier kitchen wing) had vertically jointed timber ceilings, fibrous-cement sheeting on the walls, and terrazzo floors.

The ablutions area had terrazzo flooring and contained toilets, showers and locker rooms arranged around a central passageway running north–south, servicing both wards.

[1] Beyond the dormitory building, to the west, was a detached, single-storey structure, timber framed, double-sheeted with fibrous-cement, and divided into two rooms, which were utilized as male staff quarters.

[1] Close to the northern boundary, midway along the depth of the property, was a single garage which appears to have been constructed during the period when the place functioned as a private residence.

[1] Comparatively few changes were required for occupation by the 10 WRAAC from 1953 to 1969, and during this period the Red Cross continued to maintain its library headquarters in the sub-floor of the dormitory block.

The Red Cross failed to sell the property at auction in May 1969, but toward the end of the year it was purchased by the Queensland Police Department for use as an in-service training centre.

In January 1970, the Queensland Police College opened at 17 Laurel Avenue, offering a wide variety of specialist and qualifying courses.

The main change to the grounds since 1970 has been the construction of a car park along the southern boundary of the property from Laurel Avenue to the former dormitory block.

[1] This place is a memorable element of the Laurel Avenue streetscape, presenting as a large, Federation era house with prominent gable and sweeping verandahs, a big pitched metal roof and chimney, set well back behind an established garden and enhanced with mature fig trees in the street, flanking the entrance path.

[1] The dormitory building consists of front and rear verandahs, in various degrees of enclosure, and internally is planned around a central corridor accessing small, simple bedrooms and shared amenities rooms.

It is possible that some of the joinery and moldings currently painted were originally clear finished red cedar, or similar, which if re-instated would increase the visual richness of the interiors considerably.

The internal linings in the two storeyed c. 1941 addition and the c. 1941 dormitory building are generally a combination of tongue-and-groove walling and battened, smooth sheeted ceilings with simple, largely traditional joinery and detailing.

It is set well back behind an established garden and enhanced by mature fig trees (Ficus benjamina) in the street, flanking the entrance path.

Mature trees such as a Jacaranda mimosifolia, palms and mango (Mangifera indica) in the front yard, and the Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora) in the street to the south of the figs, contribute significantly to the aesthetics of the setting.

The battened front gable and heavily shaped verandah posts with decorative sweeps and frieze in particular provide a strong visual appeal.

The Queensland Police College (former) at 17 Laurel Avenue, Chelmer, was constructed c. 1900 as a private residence, Waterton, for Brisbane insurance agent Thomas Beevor Steele.

The place demonstrates the pattern of Queensland's history, being evidence of the early 20th century suburban occupation of the Chelmer district by upper middle class residents, who constructed large family homes in spacious grounds, many of which had river frontages.

As the Lady Wilson Red Cross Convalescent Home for returned members of the Australian armed services from c. 1941 to c. 1953, the place provides evidence in the fabric of the building of a Queensland response to the impact of the Second World War.

Following the close of the convalescent home, the place served as a Women's Royal Australian Army Barracks from 1953 to 1969, and as a Queensland Police College from 1970 to 2012, maintaining an institutional use which had little impact on the predominantly residential character of Laurel Avenue.

This building is a memorable element of the Laurel Avenue streetscape, presenting as a large Federation-era house with prominent gable and sweeping verandahs, a big pitched metal roof and chimney, set well back behind an established garden and enhanced with mature fig trees (Ficus benjamina) in the street, flanking the entrance path.

[1] As a formerly residential building converted to an institutional use the place provides evidence of the impact of the Second World War on Queensland and is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of its type, namely a c. 1941 convalescent hospital.

The form of the dormitory building is of note - the central enclosed space functioning as either a single space or (as currently) a series of rooms off a central corridor, flanked by verandahs which can be either open or enclosed, is a generic form similar to other Second World War hospital buildings, such as formerly at Rhyndarra in Yeronga (now demolished), but is not a standard public works design.

This building is a memorable element of the Laurel Avenue streetscape, presenting as a large Federation-era house with prominent gable and sweeping verandahs, a big pitched metal roof and chimney, set well back behind an established garden and enhanced with mature fig trees (Ficus benjamina) in the street, flanking the entrance path.