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Marisfolg headquarters in China - Source: ONE News
A small Dunedin architecture firm is turning heads for its work on a massive fashion headquarters in China.
But it's not just the scale of the building that's impressive it's the design process that's bringing it to life.
The global headquarters for fashion giant Marisfolg in the city of Shenzen is a project almost a decade in the making.
When finished it's believed it will be the biggest building ever designed by kiwi architects.
Damien Van Brandenburg of Architecture Van Brandenburg says his team had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for the job.
"As we've developed the design further, we step up in scale and we study it in more detail," says Van Brandenburg.
But it's how they have designed the building that's turning heads.
"We start off by hand, hand cutting things and manipulating paper, material and then we run that through the computer and we output it through the computer via 3D printing and laser cutting technology and we then reassemble it.
"Then the drawings come after that, so I guess in a way it's a reverse of the traditional method of designing."
One of New Zealand's foremost architects, Euan McKellar has closely watched his former pupil's work.
"What it'll actually do hopefully for the New Zealand economy will be quite significant, what its actually going to do for New Zealand architecture will be quite significant too," he says.