The main depot for the trust’s rolling stock and administration offices was the site at Hackney east of the Botanic Gardens and forming part of the former Lunatic Asylum.
Electric power came from the MTT generator at Port Adelaide, even though the converter station was built close to the Adelaide Power Station in Grenfell Street. Under the guidance of William George Toop Goodman, the trust’s electrical engineer, English & Soward designed a building to contain a battery room, main engine house and stores. The whole of the high-tension apparatus, together with rotary converter, boosters and main switchboard, was in the engine room.
The Adelaide station is an excellent example of the interpretation of architectural style for an industrial building. It was designed by the architects responsible for the former Grenfell Street Mail Exchange. Its stylistic links with that earlier building include he high-quality detailing and juxtaposition of rock-faced limestone with face brickwork. The granite plinth, rock-faced limestone and the use of slate to support the cantilevered cornice make this building a distinctive element of East Terrace. Apart from the removal of part of the southern wall, it is structurally intact. Internal features including steel trusses and tiled floors remain. However there was some damage to the floor when the original machinery was removed after the Electricity Trust of South Australia bought the station to use as storage in 1963.
This building is allied to the former power-station buildings to the north in terms of construction, style and scale.