[8] Opened as Winnipeg's 4th tallest building in September 2009,[8] the 21-story office tower brought together 1,650 employees[3] from 15 suburban locations[9] into one 695,000 sq ft (64,568 m2) high-rise on a full, downtown block.

With the design's plan view resembling a capital letter "A", the project comprises two 18-storey twin wings framing three 6-storey, south-facing atria (winter gardens).

The design's stepped, three-storey, street-scaled podium[10] contains retail space as well as an interior pedestrian street and a single level of parking, partially below grade — over which sit the atria, office wings and their 3-storey mechanical penthouse.

[4] The building's bioclimatic, energy-efficient design features a 377 ft (115 m) tall solar chimney, a geo-thermal HVAC system using 280 five-inch tubes bored 380 feet into an underground aquifer,[12] 100% fresh air (24 hours a day, year-round, regardless of outside temperature)[10] and a one-meter-wide double exterior wall with computer-controlled motorized vents that adjust the building's exterior skin throughout the day and evening.

[15] Manitoba Hydro representatives toured to Europe to identify examples of energy efficient design a year prior to beginning the architect selection process.

While meeting the business needs of Manitoba Hydro, the office building will have a positive impact on the future of Winnipeg's downtown and be a source of pride for Manitobans.

[10] The floor plan shapes themselves (also known as floorplates) of MHP are shallow, with a distance of 11 meters from the face of the building to its interior core, facilitating natural daylighting.

[20] To achieve personal comfort levels, users have access to the operable elements of the façade and receives natural lighting 80% of normal office hours.

[15] Incidental to the building design itself, another idea behind MHP was indirect energy savings the project would facilitate by combining 15 disparate company entities in a single downtown location.

[19] MHP targets electric usage less than 100 kWh/m2/a compared to 400 kWh/m2/a for a typical large scale North American office tower, located in a more temperate climate.