The building, originally assembly rooms, was designed by Charles Dyer and was constructed between 1838 and 1842 in Greek revival style, and named in honour of Queen Victoria, who had acceded to the throne in the previous year.

A bronze statue of Edward VII, was erected in 1912 at the front of the Victoria Rooms, together with a curved pool and several fountains with sculptures in the Art Nouveau style.

It was also the venue for important dinners and assemblies, including banquets to commemorate the opening of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the quatercentennial anniversary of Cabot's discovery of North America, meetings which led to the establishment of the University College, Bristol, an early congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and suffragettes "at-homes".

[4][5] Building works in the Greek revival style, incorporating an eight-columned Corinthian portico which is 30 feet (9.1 m) tall, were completed in 1842.

[9] The pediment in the blind attic above the columns has a relief carving attributed to Musgrave Watson "depicting Wisdom in her chariot ushering in the morning, and followed by the Three Graces", according to Andrew Foyle in Pevsner's Guide.

[11] In 1849, the interior of the hall was described by Chilcott, in his Descriptive history of Bristol as being decorated in a Greek theme, to match the exterior of the building.

[3] Henry Lonsdale, writing in 1866, explains this anomaly by revealing that Tyley created the sculpture in Bath Stone from a plaster of paris model by Watson.

[13] The architecture of the building is described by English Heritage as "a product of European trends of the time, moving away from Neoclassicism and towards Roman Corinthian design.

[14] From 1873 the main auditorium housed a large organ originally built for the Royal Panopticon of Arts and Science in Leicester Square, from where it was removed to St Paul's Cathedral and thence to the Victoria Rooms.

The organ was built by Norman & Beard, and was first played by Edwin Lemare on 31 October 1900;[16] On 1 December 1934, a fire started under the stage of the great hall or auditorium, quickly spreading.

[20] The building was originally surrounded by iron railings as shown in 19th century photographs, but these are no longer there, possibly removed during the Second World War as part of a nationwide scrap drive.

[35] In the early twentieth century, Annie Kenney and Clara Codd, local organisers of the Women's Social and Political Union (the suffragettes), used the Victoria Rooms to host "at homes", to which all were invited.

[36] In 1920, the rooms were purchased from the original private company by wealthy local industrialist Sir George Wills and given to the university to house the students' union.

[38] The Victoria Rooms remained the base for the student union until 1964 when a purpose-built facility was constructed in nearby Queen's Road.