Story: Public, commercial and church architecture

New Zealand Express Company Building, Dunedin (1st of 2)

New Zealand Express Company Building, Dunedin

The seven-storey New Zealand Express Company Building in Dunedin was New Zealand's first skyscraper, designed in the Chicago Romanesque skyscraper style by brothers Alfred and Sydney Luttrell. As with the Chicago buildings, the structure features a tripartite division between base, shaft and crown – the shaft is signalled by the oriel windows. The building had a reinforced concrete frame and used pre-cast concrete slabs for the walls. Its flat roof provided a lunchtime promenade for its tenants.  

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Private collection
Photograph by Gavin McLean

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How to cite this page:

Ben Schrader, 'Public, commercial and church architecture - New takes on old styles, 1900 to 1930s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/44765/new-zealand-express-company-building-dunedin (accessed 5 May 2024)

Story by Ben Schrader, published 22 Oct 2014