the luttrell brothers had only recently come to christchurch from tasmania. the lyttelton times building was their first major commission, and established them as architects and building contractors. they used the chicago school architectural style for the design, and that was the first time that this was applied by them in new zealand. while they employed the appearance of the façade of this style, they did not employ the structural system of an internal steel frame, but they relied on load bearing walls. with their later commissions, manchester courts in christchurch and consultancy house in dunedin, both for the new zealand express company, they came closer to using the structural design of the chicago school. construction of the lyttelton times building started in ca 1902, and the building was finished in 1904. at the time, it was the tallest building in cathedral square besides the tower of christchurch cathedral itself.