The complex, which was the headquarters of Margate Borough Council, consists of the two distinct buildings connected by a bridge: it is Grade II listed.

[2] The town became a municipal borough in 1857,[3] and following further population growth, largely associated with seaside tourism, the borough council decided to commission new municipal offices on the same site in the 1890s: this became possible because of a gift from Martha Hannah Kendal, widow of a former local corn merchant, Alderman Daniel Kendal.

[2] The new building was designed in the neoclassical style, built with brick rendered with cement and completed in 1898.

[2] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto the southern edge of the Market Square; the ground floor was arcaded so that markets could be held and featured a cast iron canopy which originally extended the full width of the building.

[11] In September 2018, the council considered a proposal to let out the ground floor of the front part of the complex for commercial use.