Backhouse Building

This is one of the largest buildings in Wanganui. Architects, Sidney and Alfred Luttrell, were known to have been influenced by the “Chicago style” of high-rise buildings developed from the 1880s. The internal steel frames of these early high-rise buildings meant that the walls were no longer load-bearing and therefore the height of the buildings could increase and windows, rather than masonry, could dominate the exterior. It was built as a warehouse in 1926 and now serves as teaching space for UCOL after a fancy addition and refurbishment.