Established Brisbane architect Richard Gailey designed the four identical premises with a common Queen Street frontage.

[1] In 1884, Paling had opened a branch of his business in Toowoomba before establishing the Queen Street store a few years later.

From c. 1914 to 1974, Paling's Queen Street store also offered Brisbane's leading theatre booking service.

[1] An additional storey with an elaborate facade surmounted by an equally ornate pediment was erected on the Paling's Queen Street building prior to 1911.

[1] Due to the development of shade structures in the Queen Street Mall, it is difficult for pedestrians to see the facade of the Palings Building.

The Palings building located in central Queen Street is one of four original adjoining bays, only two of which remain.

[1] The bays of the original building are separated by keyed rusticated pilasters and individually are quite narrow in proportion.

[1] This building along with the adjacent surviving bay make a major contribution to the streetscape in this portion of Queen Street both in their scale and the vertical rhythm of their facades.

[1] The building is important in demonstrating a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular the intactness of the interior, including the detailed plaster ceilings and the timber-panelled lift and its contribution to the streetscape of Queen Street as part of a group of intact 1880s commercial buildings.

The building is important in demonstrating a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular the intactness of the interior, including the detailed plaster ceilings and the timber-panelled lift and its contribution to the streetscape of Queen Street as part of a group of intact 1880s commercial buildings.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.