The barracks were built in the regency style as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution and were completed in 1793.

[2] The barracks were designed to accommodate artillery and cavalry units and included stables for up to 1,000 horses.

[2] The structures included a building originally built as a canteen but which was converted into a military hospital in 1820: it went on to be used as a location for various military meetings, including courts-martial, chaired by Lieutenant-Colonel the Earl of Cardigan, who commanded the 11th Light Dragoons at the barracks in the 1840s and who then commanded the light brigade at the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War.

However, the Crimean War Building survives and remains in Ministry of Defence ownership for use as an Army Cadet Force Centre.

[6][7] The Preston Barracks regeneration project, nicknamed 'The Big Build', will create 369 homes, 1,338 student bedrooms, a medical centre and pharmacy, an academic building for the University of Brighton, shops, cafes, sport and recreation facilities, car parking and a pedestrian bridge which will cross Lewes Road (the A270).