[1] Located two kilometres northeast of the Brisbane CBD, New Farm State School was established in 1901 to meet the educational needs of the growing suburban community.

In October 1843, after the convict settlement closed, Government surveyor Henry Wade began surveying the land between Fortitude Valley and the Brisbane River into large allotments.

[2][3][4][5][6][7][1] The need for a state school at New Farm resulted from extensive urbanisation and population growth in the area in the final decades of the 19th century.

Improved transportation with the opening of an electric tramline down Brunswick Street in 1897, and industrial development, such as the CSR Refinery) in 1893 and the first Teneriffe Wharf in 1907, made New Farm a popular residential area.

Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.

The undercroft, comprising buff-coloured bull-nosed brick pillars and semi-circular arches with an asphalted floor, provided wet-weather play space.

Brick school buildings were far less frequently built than those of timber - being only used in prosperous urban or suburban areas with stable or rapidly increasing populations.

Light and ventilation was still a primary concern for the architects but, compared to contemporary standard education buildings, they had a grander character and greater landmark attributes.

A plan dated September 1912 detailed alterations to undercroft archway enclosures, including new sashes, six-light casements and part-glazed double doors, which were part of improvements, repairs and internal painting to "basement" classrooms.

This was achieved with the building of an open-air annexe (now called Block B) in 1918–19, after two adjacent allotments with residences were purchased for £1200 to provide sufficient grounds.

Set on brick piers, the highset timber building contained two large classrooms, a verandah to the northwest and an attached teachers room.

Located in the southwest corner of the school grounds, the memorial comprised a red face brick pillar with a concrete cap, upon which a flag pole was fixed.

The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sporting facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts.

By 1936 trees were planted to the west of the tennis court and along the southwest boundary of the school grounds, facing James and Heal Streets.

At New Farm State School, relief workers dug rock from the Hawthorne Street side of the grounds to create a level play area for the children c. 1931.

A second storey was added to the northwest and southwest wings of the urban brick school building, comprising five classrooms with adjacent hat and cloak rooms.

At New Farm State School the two classrooms of the open-air annexe were divided into four and its windows were altered to include fixed panels and casements in 1949.

[66][67][68][1] Fundraising by parents and friends of the school resulted in the building of a swimming pool, sited southeast of the open-air annexe, which opened on 29 October 1966.

This resulted from the decline of industrial and commercial enterprises in the area as they closed or relocated; and to the suburb's changing demographic as older houses were demolished to make way for blocks of units, which were not favoured by families.

[1] The urban brick school building is a substantial timber and masonry structure, comprising three wings in a U-shape configuration around a central teachers room and small courtyard.

[1] The undercroft level is largely open play space and features semi-circular brick arches and columns, all with rounded corners to above head-height.

The northeast wing contains a large room (used as a library in 2017) at the northwest end, and a southwest classroom that incorporates the former hallway space (which has had its southeast wall removed).

The gablets feature louvered timber vents and the gable end of the teachers room has decorative batten infill attached to the bargeboards.

The pillar cap has the words "IN LOVING MEMORY OF SCHOLARS WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR" marked in black lettering around the sides.

Fixed to the pillar on the eastern and western sides are marble tablets, inscribed with the names of New Farm State School students who died during WWI.

These include: teaching buildings constructed to standard and individual designs; and generous, landscaped sites with mature trees, assembly and play areas, retaining walls and sporting facilities.

The building demonstrates the principal characteristics of an urban brick school building through its highset form; linear layout, with classrooms and teachers rooms accessed by verandahs; undercrofts used as open play spaces and additional classrooms; loadbearing, masonry construction, with face brick piers to undercroft spaces; gable or Dutch-gable roofs with roof fleches; and decorative timbers to verandahs, window hoods and gablets.

Typically, urban brick school buildings are configured to create central courtyards, and are located in suburban areas that were growing at the time of their construction.

It retains its highset, timber-framed structure on brick piers; classroom widths; western verandah (now enclosed); and semi-detached teachers room.

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.