Following a competition with Alfred Waterhouse as the judge, the French Renaissance Revival design by the architects Thomas Verity and George Henry Hunt was chosen.

[2] The initial estimate for the building was £128,416 (equivalent to £16,336,977 in 2023),[3] and immediately the council asked Verity and Hunt to simplify the design.

[4] The building was erected in Darley Dale ashlar and brick, with Westmorland slate roofs for a cost of £65,000[5] (equivalent to £9,145,743 in 2023) [3] and completed in 1888.

In 2010 the council left for new, modern offices at Loxley House, close to Nottingham rail station.

The brick-lined passages and cells were extensively modified during World War II for use as emergency headquarters and air raid shelters.