It was built in the Jacobean gothic style by the English architects George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt, who were prolific designers of workhouses, hospitals and churches.

In 1988 an outer annex, not connected to the original building, was built to accommodate further court rooms, to a cost of £3 million.

To the rear is the former assembly hall, added in 1862, which is built using London stock brick with slate roofs.

The round arched entrance features an entablature above the main doors with the inscription "A structure of hope built on the foundations of faith by the hand of charity", which is flanked either side by arcaded ground floors.

Rain water heads around the main building carry the date "1842", emboldened on the front face.

[4] At the south end of the main range there is a chapel, which was added in 1860, indicated by dated rainwater heads to the walls.

Internally, the chapel has a wide chancel arch with a canted apse and some stained glass windows, depicting the Life of Christ and Acts of Mercy, by William Morris.

[1] Scott and Moffatt were chosen to design the orphanage; the foundation stone was laid by Albert, Prince Consort in 1841.

[7] King George V, who was the patron of Reed's charity, renamed the asylum the Royal Infant Orphanage in 1919.

[6] In exceptional circumstances, the institution accepted children whose fathers were still alive but "subject to confirmed lunacy or paralysis", according to a reporter for the Derbyshire Courier.

These inductions were brief and stopped altogether in 1942 owing to the introduction of the welfare state, which allowed poor families to live together.

The school was identified as being a suitable venue and it was leased by the Department of the Environment for works to begin on its conversion to a court in 1973, at a cost of £1.6m.

[3] Internally, the building's chapel and North Wing are the only two areas to remain in their original states, together with the exterior.

[6] The renovations established six new crown court rooms which were intended to serve North East London.

The lodge was designated as a Grade II listed building on 3 December 2019 to acknowledge its group value with the court.

[16] In 1880 the asylum trustees commissioned the building of an indoor swimming pool, which was erected opposite to the gatekeepers lodge.