A Board of Technical Education was established in 1902 to provide administrative support and distribute government subsidies.

The Queensland Government took over the running of technical education in Brisbane, and then across the state a decade later, with the passing of further legislation.

[1] In 1907, the Education Department reported that they had collected much information on the most modern methods of constructing and equipping technical colleges.

As in Mackay, architectural plans and specifications were supplied by the government, along with funds for construction, but administratively, the technical colleges remained autonomous.

[1] Prior to the construction of the Mackay Technical College, administration was under the control of the School of Arts committee.

Eventually, an evening class was established for those people who had left school but still wanted to continue with their education.

The School of Arts committee held a meeting to discuss means of providing the remaining funds required to construct the technical college.

A sum of £500 was raised, with the state government also contributing the expertise of architects in the Public Works Department who provided plans and specifications.

[1] The building was designed by the Works Department architects in 1910, with the drawings signed by Alfred Barton Brady and Thomas Pye.

The completed scheme included a detached brick building, containing a chemical laboratory and carpentry workshop.

It was reported that the opening of the college building "which would also be used as a high school" marked a "new stage in the educational history of Queensland", and was a "sign of intellectual progress in the community of Mackay".

The windows on the ground floor are protected by sunhoods with curved, timber brackets and clad with corrugated iron.

As part of the enclosing of the ground floor verandah, a series of timber casement windows are located on the western side of the building.

[1] Internally, the front entrance leads to a foyer with rendered walls with a high pressed metal ceiling.

The hallway runs east-west through the building with a number of panelled timber doors with breezeways, leading to offices and staff rooms.

Part of the enclosed verandah on the western side of the building is vertically lined with timber and has a ripple iron ceiling.

[1] A timber door opening off the central hall, facing the northern side of the building, leads to the main office area.

[1] The building was modified with partitions, air conditioning and kitchen facilities in order to function as part of Mackay TAFE.

The north-west corner of the property, adjacent to the former Mackay Technical College, is currently used for car parking facilities.

This car parking area, which has a number of established palm trees and other plantings, is surrounded by a low, timber, picket fence.

[1] The former Mackay Technical College was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 October 2000 having satisfied the following criteria.

It is one of many technical colleges constructed throughout Queensland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as part of an attempt to "promote mental and moral improvement of the working classes."

The former Mackay Technical College is significant as it displays the principal characteristics of an institutional building from the government architect's office of the period, with typical details such as its two-storey masonry and timber construction and asymmetric design, with pressed metal ceilings, timber joinery and decorative ventilator fleche.

The place demonstrates the principal characteristics of a building of its type, with provision for classrooms and lecture rooms, a library, a laboratory and office area.

With its design incorporating simplicity and asymmetry, its wide verandahs and timber posts, prominent central fleche and its position on the street corner surrounded by trees and plantings, the former Mackay Technical College is important for its aesthetic significance and for its contribution to the Albert street streetscape.

Internal features including the timber joinery details and pressed metal ceilings also contribute to the overall aesthetic significance of the building.