This new warehouse and office-showroom in Christchurch makes a strong statement about the client’s expectations of quality – and of Haydn & Rollett’s ability to deliver. Built for international cabinetry hardware specialist Blum, the facility at Wigram is a sequel of sorts to Haydn & Rollett’s work on Blum’s Auckland showroom, albeit on a larger scale, with 6000m2 of warehousing and a 2000m2 office-showroom.

The warehouse is straightforward enough – a structural steel frame, precast concrete walls, preclad Rooflogics roof system and a 175mm thick slab with underfloor heating. It’s in the building’s ‘front-of-house’ that Haydn & Rollett’s team really earned their corn. Finished with areas of high-quality black steel cladding, white oak floors and a custom-designed steel staircase, the showroom and open-plan office is enclosed by a dramatic two-storey, thermally-glazed façade hung off a structural steel frame, like an outsized, upscale greenhouse.