Following the earthquake-related demolition of a late 1990’s Sheppard & Rout building on a notable site on Victoria Street, the client approached us to design a new office and retail building using an innovative multi-storey technology system. Young Hunter House is one of the first true PRESS multi-storey buildings in the world.

PRESS was developed at Canterbury University and uses post-tensioned timber frames that rely on cables within the beams and steel energy dissipator clamps at the junctions to minimise any future seismic damage. The LVL frames are fabricated from locally-grown pinus radiata, resulting in a sustainable and timber-filled interior to the building.

The external weatherproof skin was designed to exhibit the internal structural system, acting as an ‘glass display case.’ Achieving a fire retardant boundary wall necessitated two sides of the building to be concrete. Deep horizontal and vertical louvres shield the glass skin to reduce potential interior heat gain.