Memorial was designed as a sculptural monument. The building is symmetrical on both axes. It uses elements reminiscent of traditional gothic church buildings (buttresses, tall windows, high ceilings), but interprets them in an Art Deco style. Grand staircases lead to the podium level and extend symmetrically on the north and south sides of the building on the main axis of Hyde Park. The balustrade around the exterior of the podium level is surmounted with cast stone urns. Large timber moulded doors slide into cavities in the external walls to allow entry. The ground floor provides the visual base of the building form and is fenestrated with timber framed double hung windows and bronze security grilles. A string course of granite extends around the building and becomes the sill at windows. The memorial is adorned externally with many sculptures representing the various Australian armed forces and support units. They are the sentinels of the building, keeping watch whilst representing the fallen for whom the building is dedicated. Between the seated figures in each corner are cast stone bas reliefs. The four large standing figures at the top of each corner of the building represent the Australian Infantry, Navy, Air Force and Army Medical Corps. Another 16 seated figures are positioned at the top of the buttresses, below the corner figures, and represent the various units. These statues include a Naval Signaller, Aviator, Nurse and Lewis Gunner fabricated from cast stone to resemble the granite facing of the building "so they should have the effect of having been hewn out of the moment rather than placed thereon". Above the Eastern and Western Entrances, bronze bas reliefs depict scenes of Australians in the Eastern and Western Fronts. The bronze bas reliefs are generally in good condition, however they require cleaning and the repair of some minor corrosion. A dark pink granosite (synthetic coating) applied to the external statues in the mid 1980s does not reinterpret the architect's original design intention of the statues being hewn from the stone. The internal building The memorial's main entrance from ground level is from the Western side. The vestibule area is lined in Ulum white marble. Two timber cabinets of silky oak with obscured glass are recessed into opposite walls. In the centre of the ceiling is a large brass "Star" light, designed by Dellit. This vestibule has glazed doors leading to the association and management offices