the factory was designed by alexander cameron, styled on the ghirardelli chocolate factory that bell had seen in san francisco, and the australian federation style. it was built in two stages, the first being completed in 1914, including the north wing—a single-storey bakehouse with an oven protruding from it, heated by fire boxes in the cellar. the south wing was of two storeys, the ground floor housing freezer rooms cooled by compressed-gas engines. the second-stage central section was completed in 1919—including a basement with double-brick cavity walls which provided ideal conditions for the dipping of chocolates.