This is an 1875 elevation drawing of Wellington's neoclassical-style Government Buildings by its architect, William Clayton. It was erected the following year in wood fashioned to look like stone. The four-storey building became an immediate landmark, and the claim that it was the largest wooden building in the world became a Wellington refrain. Historians suggest it is actually the largest wooden office building. It initially housed all the government executive – ministers and their departments – but within a few years the executive had outgrown the building and new space was required. In 1996 it became Victoria University of Wellington's law school.