[3][4] In the late 19th century, civic leaders decided to erect a more substantial municipal complex to address the growing needs of the city: the site they selected was occupied by a long narrow building, the old corn exchange.

[9] It was designed by John Gaff Gillespie in the Scottish baronial style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £21,000 and was officially opened in March 1918.

[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and committee rooms on the first floor; the main staircase, which was made from marble, was illuminated with a stained glass window, designed by the architect and installed by William Meikle & Sons, depicting King Alexander II presenting a charter to burgh officials in 1226.

[13][14] A modern extension, designed by Walter H. Gillespie, was erected on the vacant site where the original right hand section should have been built, in 1968.

[19][20][21] Works of art in the municipal buildings include a portrait by Francis Henry Newbery of the guardian of the fens known as the "Fen Reeve",[22] a portrait by Thomas Stuart Smith of a man smoking a Cuban cigarette[23] and a landscape by Duncan Cameron depicting Stirling Castle.