The new court house was designed by John Smith Murdoch who, at the time was an architect in the Department of Public Works. Murdoch had arrived in Australia from Scotland, originally working in Melbourne. He began working for the Queensland Public Works Department in the mid 1880s, leaving temporarily to practice privately before returning in the mid 1890s. In 1901, he was appointed District Architect for the Central and Northern Division of Queensland, and in this capacity designed many government buildings north of Gympie. Tenders were called for the building in 1900. The first tenders exceeded the allocated for its construction, requiring the design to be altered. Rendered cement replaced stonework detailing and fencing and landscaping were omitted altogether. Tenders were once again called and Bundaberg builder Edward Boyle won the contract. Boyle commenced work immediately, supervised by Bundaberg architect, Anton Hettrich, temporarily employed by the Works Department specifically for the purpose. The building was completed in March 1902. The Gympie Court House was designed to suit the site and was intended to be viewed from all four elevations. The dominant clock tower became a landmark in the town. Murdoch designed the building in keeping with the new style of architecture, using a more refined style of embellishment. As it neared completion in 1901, it was described in the Gympie Times as "not possess[ing] any architectural beauty". The clock tower became a dominant landmark and a popular place from which to view and take photographs of the town. Due to deductions which were made as a result of Boyle using inferior mortar, fencing was able to be erected. However this was not the originally designed brick and iron fence, but a simpler timber version with steps and a path leading from the corner of King and Channon Street. In 1907 the roof was reconstructed to the designs of District Architect, Thomas Pye. This was due to the continual problem of a leaking roof, which was thought to be the result of the design. However, this did not rectify the problem, which continued until the 1940s when the entire roof was replaced with a simple gabled structure. Future alterations included the installation of a septic system, the addition of public toilets, minor room alterations, and the replacement of the original fence with a low height concrete one. Work carried out in the 1960s and 70s included division of the court room space and the installation of air conditioning. Later work included an access ramp for the disabled and replacement of the original cedar doors at the front of the building.