The building was designed by Nonda Katsalidis and his project team (Nick Orfanidis, Kerry Hayton, Ric Wood, Rob Wiggnall and Anthony Tosariero).

The building rises uniformly with 10 storeys of office floors from a catenary canopy over a tavern at the ground level, with a pair of double-storey penthouses on the top.

[6][full citation needed] Stone paneling is used to form a steep contrast with the clear green glass that clads most of the main structure of the building.

[9] Katsalidis believes that primitive arrangements of simple and few materials are capable of eliciting a stronger and more compiling response than over-sophisticated buildings with complex features.

[10] The construction of the penthouses at the top of 171 La Trobe Street is an illustration of his urge to harmonise the privacy of residential dwellings with the hustle and bustle of a vibrant metropolitan.

"Views that extend to a distant horizon, with Mount Macedon in one direction and the blue expanse of the bay in the other", delineate the full extent of this human domain we live in.