[3] The new building was designed by a local architect, E. G. Cooper, in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1879.

[4] The design of the building, which was originally single-storey, involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing down Steephill Road.

It featured a hexastyle portico formed by six Corinthian order columns supporting an entablature, a cornice and, across the central three bays, a pediment with the word "Institute" inscribed in the tympanum.

In 1913, the extension was converted for municipal use by Shanklin Urban District Council, although the main part of the building was used for concerts and theatrical performances.

The foundation stone for a new three-storey main façade was laid by the then local member of parliament, Peter Macdonald, on 28 February 1933.

[8] The reconstruction of Shanklin Town Hall was carried out to a design by Cooper & Corbett in the French neoclassical style at a cost of £13,000, but it also included an extension incorporating a 700-seat theatre, which opened in 1934.