The building in Chicago School architectural style was registered with New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage item, with the registration number 7216.

[2][3] From its initial location in the port town, Lyttelton, the newspaper moved its headquarters to the larger market of Christchurch in 1863.

[5] The site that the Lyttelton Times had occupied in Gloucester Street with an agency since the 1850s extended through to Cathedral Square.

[7] Growth continued, and Sidney and Alfred Luttrell were commissioned in 1902 to design a new building for the Cathedral Square frontage.

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.

[3] Production of the Star-Sun continued in the building until 1958, when the newspaper shifted to premises in Kilmore Street and changed its name again to The Star.

[12] The historic part of Warner's Hotel is understood to also needing demolition,[12][13] while the adjacent The Press Building was demolished in July 2011.

It introduced the Chicago School architectural style to Christchurch, and it was the first major commission for the Luttrell brothers, starting their New Zealand career.