Canterbury Heritage Awards 2018: Seismic Award- Proudly sponsored by  CERES NZ

Equal Winners:

Statue of Captain Robert Falcon Scott
Entrant: Christchurch City Council
The statue of Captain Robert Falcon Scott commemorates the Polar Party who perished on their return journey from the South Pole in 1912. The statue is of international importance with considerable historic, artistic, cultural and social significance. Using internationally leading and innovative engineering techniques the statue has been meticulously conserved, repaired and seismically strengthened. Without such care and attention the statue, that now sits proudly on its original site, would likely have been lost.

Holy Innocents, Mt Peel
Entrant: Church Property Trustees
This highly significant church built in 1869 and associated with the early settler Acland family was badly damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. It was considered a total loss.

The Heritage NZ and Timaru District Council listed church is in an isolated location creating major problems for its strengthening and partial reconstruction. These included a lack of services, difficulty for transport of building supplies, and the need to work over winter. The commitment of the whole team is evident in the innovation and excellence of the design and its implementation so that the heritage values of the church have been maintained. It is now more able to survive similar earthquakes so that future generations can experience and enjoy its magnificent qualities.

Highly Commended:

Mona Vale Homestead
Entrant: Christchurch City Council
Mona Vale is a gracious Revival style homestead and a well-known landmark in Christchurch. Built largely of unreinforced masonry, it suffered badly in the earthquakes.

The task to repair and rebuild was substantial. Walls were deconstructed and bricks labelled one by one, to be re-laid over a new strengthened structure, with the whole tied together by four portal frames that also formed the rebuilt chimneys. It sounds simple, but the scale and complexity of such a painstaking task highlights the integrity with which this project was undertaken.

Dean’s Farm Buildings
Entrant: The Building Intelligence Group
The Deans Farm Building at Christchurch Boys High School suffered extreme damage and adversity through the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 as well as fire damage caused by arson in 2016. Pleasingly the School Board recognised the significance of the buildings and approved restoration. Today the result is a beautifully restored heritage complex which showcases the history of the site and school. The use of the buildings for the school purposes of today are testament to the schools dedication and commitment to heritage.

St Pauls Church, Tai Tapu
Entrant: Church Property Trustees
Designed in 1932 by architect Cecil Wood, St Paul’s Anglican Church in Tai Tapu performed well during the Canterbury earthquakes, however, the rocking of the tower combined with liquefaction caused significant subsidence. A carefully thought through repair methodology to relevel, strengthen and restore the Church enabled Church Property Trustees and their consultants to undertake a project with minimum intervention and loss of heritage fabric.

St Bartholomew’s Church, Kaiapoi
Entrant: Church Property Trust
Built in 1855 to a design by colonial architect Benjamin Mountfort, St. Bartholomew’s Kaiapoi suffered foundation damage in the Canterbury earthquake. Anglican Church Property Trustees and their consultants developed a solution that enabled the work to be undertaken without any loss of heritage value to this significant early timber church which was lifted off its original foundation to allow a new foundation to be built.

Commended:

Christ’s College | Kitchen & Tower
Entrant: Wilkie+Bruce
Christ’s College is committed to retaining its cultural and built heritage. A further example of its care is the renovation and seismic upgrade of the Kitchen and Tower adjacent to the Category 1 listed dining hall. The seismic upgrade was sensitively integrated into the heritage fabric. For example, the projecting corner oriel window on the north west corner of the tower needed complex structural strengthening. The end result of the project further enhances the streetscape to Rolleston Avenue.

Former St. Luke’s Vicarage
Entrant: Maiden Group
Built in 1867 St. Luke’s Vicarage is one of the oldest, best, and least modified of the Ecclesiologically inspired vicarages in New Zealand. Architect Robert Speechly, who trained as an architect in London, designed the vicarage as an adaptation of the English domestic model to local New Zealand conditions.

Because of the very soft soils under the building a light weight ground improvement system, PIC Seismic Isolation Raft, was used. The current owners have ensured the future retention and relevance of an important part of Christchurch history.

St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church, Governors Bay
Entrant: Church Property Trustees
This church was severely damaged in the Canterbury earthquake of September 2010. An unreinforced masonry building it has had to be largely reconstructed with the walls reformed in concrete block and the original stone used as facing. The project required a combination of modern materials and techniques with traditional stone laying to reconstruct it largely to its original form and aesthetic enabling it to meet current code requirements.

St. Barnabas Church, Fendalton
Entrant: Church Property Trustees
Like many of Canterbury’s stone churches, the Anglican church of St. Barnabas in Fendalton suffered seismic damage. A solution was developed by the Church Property Trustees and their consultants to repair the building in situ thus avoiding the need for deconstruction and thereby maintaining the historic architectural integrity of this significant listed Church.

St. Michael’s Old Stone Building
Entrant: Church Property Trustees
St Michael’s Old Stone building suffered seismic damage in the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake cycle. As a school building it was crucial that it was brought to full code and as heritage building it was crucial this was achieved in the most sympathetic manner possible to retain its integrity. A very considered approach to the repair and strengthening ensured that all work respected architectural and heritage values. The result has seen this building, one of four listed heritage buildings on the site retained, restored and seismically secured for the future.