Following significant population growth, largely associated with the woollen industry, a local board of health was established in the Slaithwaite area in 1862.

[2] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the proprietor of the Slaithwaite Spinning Company,[3] William Varley, on 19 May 1892.

[4] It was designed by a local architect, James B. Eagland, in the neoclassical style, built in limestone brick and was completed later that year.

[5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the Lewisham Road; the second bay from the left, which projected forward, was fenestrated by a segmental window on the ground floor and a sash window on the first floor and was surmounted by a Dutch gable with a projecting flagpole.

[14] The building went on to become the offices of a fashion exhibition organiser and then, after a change of ownership in October 2019 and a programme of refurbishment works costing £450,000, it re-opened as a business centre known as Empire House in July 2021.