The present building dates from 1879, soon after Edward Knox bought the whole area for CSR. In the lee of the high pressure boiler house (now The Elizabeth), it was a handy administrative centre for engineers, and acquired facilities as a home-away-from-home for those on standby.
When CSR diversified into distilling (from 1901) and building materials (from the 1930s) the workforce expanded and diversified.  So many chemists and engineers were employed, and so many apprentices trained, that the company was second only to BHP.  During the Second World War, CSR manufactured armaments as well.

CSR made generous provision for their apprentices, and encouraged all staff to improve their skills. The five-storey, timber-floored Rum Sore began to host many activities, educational and social, such as a spacious reading room for quiet study. Management worked hard to instil a sense of family loyalty: the company hoped that their young female chemists would find husbands among CSR’s own engineers, managers and chemists. Works picnics were a regular event, and so were concerts, with performers using a stage in this building. There was space here too, for a cafeteria.