[1] Indooroopilly State High School (SHS) opened in early 1954 in response to post-World War II (WWII) population growth in Brisbane's suburbs and the growing demand for secondary education.

Blocks are connected by covered areas and walkways, and landscape elements include brick planter boxes, concrete stairs and pavements, a bitumen parade ground and roadways, retaining walls, gardens, mature trees, and sporting facilities such as a c. 1959 oval and mid-1960s basketball and tennis courts.

In the late 19th century a small township developed near the Indooroopilly railway station, and a number of large villas were erected on the banks of the Brisbane River.

[20] In the post-WWII period, the pressures of material shortages and rapid population growth forced the DPW to experiment with prefabrication and new, more efficient structural systems in order to keep up with demand for additional school buildings.

The site of the western half of the later school oval, 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres) of land that was formerly resubdivisions 487–527 of Portions 38, 39 and 42A (a road reserve), was purchased by the Secretary of Public Instruction in January 1951.

[47][1] Responding to materials shortages and population pressures post-WWII, the DPW imported a British building system from manufacturers Boulton & Paul Ltd of Norwich, England.

[50][1] In 1954 the type was improved by replacing the proliferation of stumps in the understorey with a timber truss that spanned the width of the classrooms above and provided an unimpeded play space.

[1] While standard designs predominated in the 1950s, non-standard schools were also constructed, generally in Brisbane and the metropolitan areas where the population was stable and brick supplies guaranteed.

[58] As the school grew, spaces between buildings and at the ends of blocks were purpose-designed to address ground level changes, improve circulation, and create gardens, seating and play areas for the students.

Projecting perpendicular to the walkway on the north side was a tall brick planter box and adjacent set of timber stairs with tubular metal handrails.

[109] By 1989 other minor changes to partitioning had occurred in blocks A, B and D.[110][111][1] Additional school buildings have been constructed around the 1950s complex on the lower ground to the west, south and east.

The school retains its original complex of seven timber and brick buildings (constructed 1953–59), which are centrally located on a high, flat plateau area at the northern end of the site.

The landscaped grounds are well established, and include bushland, mature trees, planter boxes, retaining walls, tennis / basketball courts and playing fields.

The ground beneath the walkway is concrete pavement, accessed from the southern side by a set of steps with adjacent planter box and garden area.

Projecting perpendicular to the walkway on the north side is a tall brick planter box and adjacent set of timber stairs with tubular metal handrails.

The separate gable roof over the western stairs is partly supported by metal poles that are angled to form a V shape, and an early sink survives in the northwest corner of the landing.

Constructed predominantly from orange brick, it has a corrugated metal-clad gable roof, with the eaves on the eastern side supported by timber struts fixed to window mullions below.

Stairwells with separate gable roofs are located at each end of the building, enclosed by facebrick walls glazed with timber-framed screens with wired-glass insets.

[1] The ground floor level comprises seven classrooms of the same size, interconnected by single, panelled, two-light timber doors adjacent to the eastern wall.

[1] The ground floor slab is elevated above "Town Square" and is accessed along the southern side by concrete steps leading to a central landing with tubular metal balustrades.

Concrete pavements and pathways run around a large brick garden bed at the west end of the building to connect with the northern side of the ground floor.

[1] Due to the sloping site, the first floor verandah is at ground level at the eastern end, accessed from the adjacent stairway via a concrete-paved, face brick entrance bay with a vertical timber louvre screen in the northern wall.

The southwest driveway is partly edged by stone-lined retaining walls as it approaches blocks B and D.[1] The grounds are well established and contain numerous gardens and mature trees of a wide variety of species, both native and introduced.

On the low-lying, flat southern grounds are a large Sports Oval (c. 1959) at the western end and open playing fields to the east, both fringed by mature trees.

[1] The layout of the classroom blocks, the covered links between them and associated open spaces, reflect the mid-1950s introduction of organic master planning, which responded to the site contours and provided for ordered growth from a nucleus.

[1] Blocks A and B incorporate Boulton & Paul timber units, which demonstrate the introduction and adoption of imported prefabricated systems by the Queensland Government in response to acute building material shortages and population growth in the post-World War II period.

[1] Blocks C, D and E illustrate the adaptation of standard Department of Public Works designs to suit the specific site conditions and functional requirements of Queensland schools from the 1950s.

These include its master-planned site incorporating long, narrow buildings, linked around open-ended courtyard spaces; and generous, landscaped grounds with shade trees, assembly and sports areas.

Other characteristic features of this type include: a gable roof; a verandah for circulation, with glazed screens at the ends; standard classroom size of 24 by 24 feet (7.3 by 7.3 m), and large banks of timber-framed windows to maximise natural light and ventilation.

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.