Watch as a shopping trolley, a fridge, a BMW and finally a 1.6-tonne rock are dropped on a variety of different office desks.

A Wellington inventor has developed a special earthquake desk designed to save lives.

When a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Kaikoura one night in November, hundreds of Wellington city workers were unable to return to their offices because of the damage, including from falling debris.

After the disaster, Lower Hutt resident Nick Maarhuis, 32, designed a Quake Desk using triangulated steel framing to withstand falling objects.

JARED NICOLL Nick Maarhuis prepares to test his Quake Desk design against a standard wooden desk and a standard steel-frame desk by dropping heavy objects on them from a crane at Macaulay Metals in Seaview on Tuesday.

Maarhuis, who runs a company making race car trailers, said the simple make-up took about a day to weld together and less than $200 to make.

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"There's nothing crazy special about it. I tried to keep it simple, in case someone else wanted to build it.

JARED NICOLL/ FAIRFAX NZ The Quake Desk finally caves under the weight of a falling 1.6-tonne block, having survived a BMW.

"If you have a square design, like a regular desk, it can collapse easily, whereas a triangle is the optimum shape for strength in all directions."

He tested the design at Macaulay Metals in Seaview – where the first car to fall victim to Judith Collins' anti-street racer law was crushed – in early December.

A simple wooden desk was crushed under a falling shopping trolley, and then a simple square steel-frame desk crumbled under a falling mini-fridge.

JARED NICOLL/ FAIRFAX NZ A standard steel frame office desk about to be smashed by a falling BMW.

The Quake Desk survived a falling BMW before its wooden top caved in after a couple of high falling hits from a 1.6-tonne block.

Maarhuis was thrilled with the result, and plans to gauge demand before committing to producing Quake Desks.