In the near future, an exact replica of the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is being built on New Zealand's West Coast. It's an exercise in economic stimulation and national confidence-building after a run of natural and financial disasters, and Catherine is the engineer in charge of making sure it all works.

She feels there is something wrong in the plans, or is there something wrong in her? The novel travels from the top of the tower to a geodesic dome in a park in London; from the Grand Lisboa in Macau to student accommodation in Wellington; and from a South Auckland theme park to the Pompidou Centre, exploring the way chance events can undo the best efforts of human beings to plan and build their lives and worlds.

I'm Working on a Building reveals the way that everything becomes clearer in reverse, because sometimes things have to be taken apart in order to be understood.