Plans for our city

Avenues asked local architects to share their ideas for the new Christchurch, in part one of this two part series.

 

Thinking in boxes

Architectural graduate: Andrew Just, F3 Design

Decisions as big as those surrounding the central-city rebuild shouldn't be rushed.

To allow more time, architectural graduate Andrew Just is pushing for temporary build solutions to inject vitality and activity back into the centre, until a more permanent fix is found.

Using shipping containers for the Restart the Heart initiative is just one example of such thinking.

In fact, Andrew believes there are even better options than shipping containers for creating temporary architecture for the city. Homegrown designs offer greater flexibility, while also being recyclable and relocatable, he says. One such solution is the ArtBox, a project of Christchurch Polytechnic's Faculty of Creative Industries. The prototype 2.9m x 5.7m module, completed on site at F3 Design in November, marks the start of an initiative to create gallery and studio space for quake-displaced Christchurch artists. Those who have visited say the ArtBox prototype reminds them of a loft gallery. It is light, has wooden recycled flooring and exposed frames. It is minimalist and simple and the modules can be playfully reconfigured in an almost endless number of ways.

Andrew, who has been involved with the ArtBox project from its inception, is excited not only about its potential to reinvigorate the city's arts community, but also by its potential use in a transitional rebuild.

"It's mobile and it's flexible. That means it can be arranged in different ways, literally like a building block. Its steel frame means it's really strong. It sits lightly on a site and is easy to move. These modular units could even be converted into housing once they are no longer needed as shop or office spaces.

"It's a different way of thinking: the specific conditions right now are uncertainty. I don't think we can - or should - be rushing to put in permanent structures right now. We need to address our current problems with practical and temporary solutions."

With modular units, developers could even try out a variety of configurations at a site to assess what layout would work best.  "The units themselves can become an extension of the design process itself."

On the day of our interview, Andrew had spent the morning working on a Gap Filler project in Colombo St to create a giant chess set on a vacant lot there. Creative urban regeneration is what this young architectural graduate and others involved with this charitable trust have been working hard to promote since the September earthquake.

His enthusiastic support of modular, temporary architecture is almost an extension of Gap Filler; he sees it as a way of pumping some life back into the centre in the short to medium term in a creative, economical and flexible way.

"The bigger picture is so important, we need to allow ourselves time to achieve that properly. If we can get things going in the meantime, then we can relieve the pressure and help inform the long-term solutions."

A garden in a city

Architect: Richard Dalman, managing director of Dalman Architecture

Greening the central city is an approach endorsed by city councillors in recent months. In November, on the final day of deliberations on the draft central-city plan, they agreed to adopt new environmental building standards.

How might a greener city centre look?

A design by Merivale-based architect Richard Dalman's firm Dalman Architecture submitted to the council last year offers some insight.
Called GO: Garden Oasis, the proposal is for a medium-density inner-city housing development on council-owned land between Welles and Dundas streets.

The design would transform wasted space in the centre of a city block into a place of trees, apartments, green courtyards, playgrounds, lanes, neighbourhood squares and public parks, while still retaining an urban retail edge. Buildings would capture rainwater, plants would grown on building facades and rooftop living spaces would sprout fruit trees and gardens.

"This is living in a garden in a city in a garden. The idea is to create a garden and put accommodation in it. It's a blueprint for what we might want to do with the rest of the city centre," Richard says.

A sketch of this proposed oasis shows two women in summer dresses chatting happily beside a pool. They are standing on a path edged with shrubs and trees, leading to a row of low-rise apartments, hung with greenery. Children are enjoying swings in a nearby play area. It looks impossibly idyllic, far removed from the current reality of loss and demolition.

Richard maintains this is no pipe dream, yet it requires considerable vision and leadership - particularly from the council - to make it happen. "In my view, the council should not just be facilitating developments, but doing developments themselves to kickstart housing in the inner city, rather than relying on private developers to be the first to develop."

Exemplar projects should encourage similar developments, he says. "I think investors would get excited by seeing a development that had been done well and was providing an environment that was both pleasant and liveable."

As well as the GO project, Richard has worked with fellow architect Peter Beaven on a design for the Left Bank precinct - the area roughly bounded by Chancery Ln, Gloucester St and Oxford Tce - as part of the recommendations put together by the New Zealand Institute of Architects. This approach opens up space previously inaccessible to the public with lanes leading to new squares and small parks, and allows for mixed residential, commercial and retail uses. Roof terraces, gardens and outdoor rooms are key features, as is a proposal to close part of Oxford Tce to traffic.

"Peter and I sat around the table to look at the Tivoli site and the Sevicke Jones site and started working our way through to the river. We saw an opportunity to link the river with Cathedral Square through laneways and small squares."

However, Richard believes the success of proposals such as these will ultimately rely on building owners being prepared to work together and sell or swap some of their land for public access.