Gold, silver for Christchurch's new civic facilities

Christchurch’s new civic buildings are earning national acclaim.

At the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards on Friday night, Christchurch's central library, Tūranga, took out the top national award in the Civic category and won a gold award.

Two other Council-owned facilities, Taiora QEII and the Woolston Community Library, which were finalists in the Civic category, won silver awards.

“It is a wonderful result and testimony to the excellent work our construction partners have done in delivering buildings that the Council and the people of Christchurch can be proud of,” Council Manager Capital Delivery Major Facilities Alistair Pearson says.

“Since the earthquakes, we have spent millions of dollars building new community and civic facilities and it is rewarding to have the high quality of these buildings recognised by the construction industry,” Mr Pearson says.

Tūranga was built for the Council by Southbase Construction. Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen, working with Architectus, designed the five-storey building, which opened in October 2018.

“It is a beautiful building and it has quickly become the city’s cultural and community heart, with more than half a million people visiting in the first six months,” Mr Pearson says.

Taiora QEII, which was built by Apollo Projects Limited, was designed with input from the community to provide aquatic and recreational facilities for the eastern suburbs.

The $38.6 million centre was delivered ahead of schedule and under budget, opening to the public at the end of May last year.

The Woolston Community Library was designed by Ignite Architects to provide a home for Woolston’s volunteer library and meeting spaces for the local community.

The brick and timber exterior of the building pays homage to the distinctive brick of Woolston’s old library, which was demolished after the earthquakes.

Recognition for restoration projects

Two recently restored Council-owned buildings – the Rose Chapel and the Old Stone House – won gold awards in the Heritage and Restoration category of the New Zealand Commercial Projects Awards.

The Rose Chapel also won the national award in the Heritage and Restoration category.

Both the Rose Chapel and the Old Stone House were badly damaged in the earthquakes and required extensive repairs to restore the buildings to their former glory.

“Amalgamated Builders were the contractors working on the Old Stone House and they did an amazing job to complete the repairs while keeping much of the original heritage value that makes the Old Stone House so special,” Council Manager Capital Delivery, Community, Darren Moses says.

“The restoration of the Rose Chapel was very complex and the team involved, DPA Architects, Higgs Construction and WSP Opus, again did a great job. It is thanks to their efforts that this beautiful chapel, with its splendid rose window, is back in public use,” Mr Moses says.