Christchurch’s First Skyscraper Took New Zealand Title – 1906

In 1906, on the South East corner of Manchester and Hereford Streets, New Zealand’s tallest building was opened with grand ceremony. Designed by the Luttrell brothers, the seven storey structure was Christchurch’s first steel reinforced, commercial building; blending together the stately Edwardian design style with the worldly building flare of America. It was the New …

R.S. McKenzie & J. Willis Form Historic Partnership – 1906

McKenzie & Willis, the South Island’s leading home furnishing retailer, began as a house and land agency that also dabbled in auctioning of second-hand furniture as a side business.  They took up the first floor of the one year old Royal Exchange Building (now demolished but was located at the western cnr of Cathedral Square and …