It sets out to portray an industrial version of steampunk. It is crazy, quirky and unique unlike any other visitor attraction in New Zealand. Steampunk HQ is well known for its full scale train engine outside that spits fire and billows smoke. Inside, a museum of contraptions & bizarre machinery featuring heavy use of copper, gears, pipes & gas cylinders, as well as an ensemble of skeletal sculptures are lit by flickering lights & accompanied by film, projection & sound. A back door leads to a large yard with projects in various stages of being steampunked.

Steampunk HQ must be experienced rather than explained.