Steampunk HQ Oamaru

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Oamaru has embraced the concept and there is an Exhibition here.

Steampunk is headquartered in the Elevator Building, the largest commercial building undertaken by the design partnership of Forrester and Lemon. The exterior constructed of locally quarried Oamaru stone, was completed in 1883 and before a fire in 1920 rose to a height of five stories. It was the first elevator building in the Southern Hemisphere. It had the specific purpose of handling and storing grain, based on the American principle of self-emptying bins. "The former grain store stands as a testament to the booming grain-based economy that saw Oamaru flourish in the 1870s and 1880s."

Hometown New Zealand Photographs by Derek Smith

Photo Credit: Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photography and David Baldock Photographer