The Dispensary is one of the most finely decorated buildings of Stone Town and a symbol of the multi-cultural architecture and heritage of the city.

[1][2] Its wooden carved balconies, with stained glass decorations, are of Indian influence; the main structure is built with traditional Zanzibari coral rag and limestone, but covered with stucco adornments of European neo-classical taste.

[1] The construction of the Old Dispensary was commissioned in 1887 by Tharia Topan, a wealthy Ismaili Indian, to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

[3] In 1964, following the Zanzibar Revolution (whereby most Zanzibari Indians, including those who lived in the dispensary, fled abroad), the building was requisitioned by the government, and later fell into disuse and decay.

In 1990, as a part of a general plan for the renovation of the historical buildings of Stone Town, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture obtained from the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar the permission to restore the Dispensary.