Does anyone have a list of the ten tallest buildings in Christchurch, with the height, floor count, and photos of each building?

I would really like to know what they look like, and how tall the westpac building, and the Holiday inn are.

Emporis has some of the info:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/?id=101239
but much of it is wrong especially the construction dates and the names of some of the buildings. Maybe we could find out the correct details and get them to correct their site?

I started doing this a while back and got quite a few more added to Emporis, but there's still quite a few missing. For admin to accept you need all the correct details, adress, conctrustion commenced, completed, developer, name, height and floor count and other relevant information. A trip to the CCC would be your best bet.

So - is The Pinnacle going to be taller than C1?

To roof, but not to structural tip, I would guess? We don't have official height counts for either.

only one diagram in the db but others are listed
http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?32420946

Next year for a school project, I will try to make a list, and diagrams, of all the buildings with more than 10 floors.

Next year for a school project, I will try to make a list, and diagrams, of all the buildings with more than 10 floors.

Brilliant - look forward to seeing that :)

I have started cataloging the buildings in christchurch on Google Maps
The link is http://maps.google.com/maps (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&om=0&msid=116075571292125283894.000444bf7fa9faec3596f&ll=-43.534114,172.617531&spn=0.106777,0.2314&z=12)

If you have any information to add, can you E-mail it to

christchurch.buildings@gmail.com

and I will add it to the information.

I made the new gmail account for my project.

with most people here pretty passionate about this sort of thing i though it would be a cool idea if those interested could sketch up (or if art isn't your thing) describe your ideal skyscraper for the chch cbd.

im going to start sketching up a few ideas of what i would like to see as the pride and joy of the chch skyline, just wondering if people had the opportunity to design one, what would it be?

well for a start id love to see a 150m glass scraper on the corner of Colombo and Armagh st. It would reflect the beauty of victoria square in its mirror glass... id like it to kinda look like a mini verdsion of Eureka in Melbourne... im too shit a drawer though

At the moment, getting to 30 stories would make me very, very happy :lol:

My ideal CHCH skyscraper would be for them to not bother building it there build it in Dunedin instead

Excellent idea for a thread. Let your imagination go nuts. Ive got heaps of ideas and my inner property developer has already built heaps around town. :)A few ideas here's the first one in no particular order:

Put this on the corner of Gloucester and Cambridge. Ive always had a soft spot for Quay Wests- have had some 'good times' in both the Brissy and Auckland ones. Good looking building anyway. And at say 33 levels why not!

http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/auckland15.jpg
http://images.travelnow.com/hotels/BNE_QUAY-exter-1.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/190730381_ddfc8ce370.jpg?v=0

The height is good. When the Bob Jones building was first built it looked as though it was the beginning of highrise in Christchurch. I would like to see something with more mirror glass and some good height.:)

Dare I say it.......

http://www.archiform3d.com/3d-gallery/07-the-pinnacle/02-exterior-rendering.jpg

.....and a few more like it please.

Corner of Kilmore and Colombo Street is a good spot just ripe for a development of this type.

That is a beautiful building. :yes: ^^

This building would make a great centerpiece building for Christchurch. :)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2567/image1gw2.jpg

:)

Every city deserves it's one standout building that everything else built serves as a supporting cast. :)

^^I agree with you all the way!:)

Hi all, since there are more and more people making the CBD home. Heres a thread to discuss and compare the best and worst, the most interesting and unusual apartments Christchurch has to offer.

I'll start by saying that probably my fav apartment building in chch is the Victoria Square Apartments, 100 Armagh Street, especially the top 7 floors. Each of the top seven floors is one large 340sqm apartment, each sold for between just under $3 million and almost $4.5 million.
The lower floors each have 2 smaller 220sqm apartments, still with ample room, and all spacious and beautifully appointed, and are also over $1 million each.
Each apartment has 2 underground car parks, and the building is ideally situated not too far from a lot of night life Chch has to offer, bars/clubs etc.

http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af89/kiwichch/chch%20pics%202/IMG_0228.jpg

http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af89/kiwichch/IMG_0552.jpg

http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af89/kiwichch/chch%20pics%202/776-RN080831-ArmaghStreet-Christchu.jpg

I like the Bridgewater one as well. But the best of all would be the Pinacle going by the renders for it. Lets hope it gets built, fingers crossed.

We're starting to think about coming back to CHC for a while to live.....and we would love to live in the centre of the city.

However, we really do want to live up high. I really think the council and designers need to think about mid priced apartment living.......I mean, we can afford something nice.......but not millions. Affordable housing on different scales, levels and design will really help bring people in.

I have just finished my jury service, and I had lunch in the Copthorne millennium hotel. (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/mpl?ie=UTF8&moduleurl=http:%2F%2Fmaps.google.co.nz%2Fintl%2Fen_nz%2Fhelp%2Fmaps%2Fholidays%2Fmapplet.html&mapclient=google&ll=-43.526914,172.633428&spn=0.000548,0.001206&t=h&z=20)
I noticed in the main entrance on Durham street north, there is an interesting aerial photo of Christchurch CBD with several buildings, like the district/high court building, the hotel Grand Chancellor, and the Forsyth Barr building, Under Construction.
I thought it was quite interesting. (I actually thought the Forsyth Barr was newer)

They have that in the Copthorne on Durham also, it's from the 1980's hey? The COD also has a 1945 shot, with the same view

It was actually the one on Durham, didn't make that obvious.
I certainly shows how much progress Christchurch has made between then and a couple of years ago (almost none).

I noticed in the main entrance on Durham street north, there is an interesting aerial photo of Christchurch CBD with several buildings, like the district/high court building, the hotel Grand Chancellor, and the Forsyth Barr building, Under Construction.
I thought it was quite interesting. (I actually thought the Forsyth Barr was newer)

They were all built within a short time of each other in the building boom back in the late 80s. I used to watch them growing out my office window in Manchester St.

FB (then RJI House), PWC, Clarendon Tower, HGC (then Centre Tower) and Holiday Inn (then United Bank) were (I think) our 5 tallest and construction of all 5 probably spanned about 2-3 years max (memory is getting hazy).
A lot of others were built in the same boom TVNZ (don't know what it is called now), Park Royal (forgotten its new name too), Copthorne and another in Hereford St whose name also escapes me.

Holiday Inn has now fallen off the 5 tallest list with the advent of the Pacific Tower.

PWC had 2 tower cranes (not the fixed boom type) and one was diesel powered (used to see the smoke belching out the exhaust).

Don't know if we'll see another construction boom like that in my lifetime. Interestingly enough some more tall ones were planned but the big property crash put an end to them.

Do you know any details about "the ones that got away" Paulsy??

I hope we do see a building spree again in your life time;)

I really think the council and designers need to think about mid priced apartment living.......I mean, we can afford something nice.......but not millions. Affordable housing on different scales, levels and design will really help bring people in.

So there is NO mid-priced apartments in Christchurch?

So there is NO mid-priced apartments in Christchurch?

There are, but they were not very nice looking and a little pokey. The whole idea of apartment living is still seems new in NZ, so there doesn't seem to be the variety of design and height that you get elsewhere in the world.

The CCC still seem to be creating areas of certain design, height and style that are really boring, rather than getting dearing and having a real eclectic mix of residential development. I think it WILL happen, but nothing to rattle our cage yet.

SOL and the High Street area are starting to provide what we would be interested in, but it's still £££ to buy.

We would love to live around the New Regent St area, but there is virtually no residential development among the highrise, commercial, arts and historic buildings and developments. Just imagine if 5 or 6 thousand people lived in that neighbourhood alone :banana:

I must say that since the city mall area has been redeveloped, there does in general seem to be more people milling around during the weekdays in the City Mall/colombo St area.

Not sure if that is just my perception or not but if it is true, then this is really good news for the city centre.

The city mall actually is looking rather nice - Was a little unsure with some of the design aspects (portable planter boxes, seemingly random patchwork of pavers etc), but I'd have to say that it is a vast improvement over what it was.

Is the area looking colourful? I mean with plants and trees - the whole garden feel they have been banging on about?

^^ Yes, don't have pictures though I did take this one just the week before christmas.

http://gallery.me.com/kanedavid/100062/IMG_0052/web.jpg?ver=12623728390001

Thanks KD - I like the way they are going to let climbing plants develope around the lamp posts.

Now they just need a few more hotels and lots of residential development all around here. Imagine waking up in the morning and looking down into the mall.......

a tram running through city mall?? WOW. was that a test flight so to speak, Kane?

I remember a story from the press in 1993. It said back in 1987 we had 13 cranes graced the Christchurch skyline while today there is just 1 and they showed a photo of the casino being built with a yellow Lund crane. I have a old postcard somewhere with an aerial photo of 6 cranes in one shot it was great to see I will hunt it down and post it here when I am back in april. It had UC Parkroyal, Courthouse, Barclays bank, RJ House, NZI Bank and Clarendon House. There were others that had cranes on them that were outside of the picture eg TVNZ, NAB house, Southpower, PWC and Downer BLDG. At the Museum archives there is some old photos of 1980's chc building boom well worth a visit.

A block of Christchurch flats, once regarded as the "ugliest" building in the city, may get the highest level of heritage protection.

The Dorset St flats, designed and built by Sir Miles Warren in 1956 and 1957, was his first Christchurch project three years into his distinguished architectural career.

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust wants to give category one status to the flats.

Trust southern region general manager Malcolm Duff calls the flats "a bold statement of postwar architecture" that set the blueprint for modern design nationally.

Warren designed the eight one-bedroom flats for himself and three associates as owner-occupied accommodation, and a flat for each owner to let for income.

When built, Duff said they were soon dubbed "Fort Dorset" for their substantial concrete-block look.

"Tour buses would visit to view what were reputed to be the ugliest buildings in the city."

However, Duff said they were greatly admired in architectural circles and came to distinguish the "Christchurch school" of postwar architecture that helped shape that type of design around the country.

Category one status was proposed because of their aesthetic, architectural, historical and technological significance, he said.

Warren said the move to recognise the building's history was "an excellent idea".

"It's really the building that launched a number of ships: it really started modern postwar architecture here."

He said the building's notoriety had been a "great honour" for him. "It speaks to the effrontery of youth, really."

Trust heritage adviser Christine Whybrew said the flats marked the emergence of a new kind of residential living, and were recognised as one of the most important "modern-movement" buildings in New Zealand.

"Sir Miles took a total-design approach to the flats by designing built-in furniture and fittings and while there have been some internal alterations over the years, the flats retain many of their original features."

Peter Howard, who owns the flat that Warren used to live in, said he chose it specifically because of the design.

"It really resonated to me from my childhood – I think most of the people living here identify with the architecture in some way."

Howard said the "ugliest building" remark had to be understood in the context of the time.

"Most of the other places at the time were red brick, red tile houses: people had never seen anything like it before."

Public submissions on the flats' proposed status close on March 5. They will be reviewed before a final recommendation is put to the trust's board.

I thought that Dorset Towers was built in 1973 much later than that story says.

Where is Dorset st lol

Off Park tce

Anyone else cringe when they see the Vero building in grey? I thought it was just primer. It's disgusting.

Anyone else cringe when they see the Vero building in grey? I thought it was just primer. It's disgusting.

Where is this one??? Picture?

http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/DesignOpportunities-docs.pdf


I wonder how all this will fit in with the Gehl report?

I REALLY think it's time for a Facelift for the PWC Building. The Peach/Salmon Facade is going slighty murky/grey. :ohno:

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/2871/dscf1204large.jpg
By appreciation (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/appreciation) at 2010-09-26

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7638/dscf1203large.jpg
By appreciation (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/appreciation) at 2010-09-26

Someone needs to go along it with a water blaster jet to get all the mould off the tiles.

I think it would look cool if they replaced all the pink tiles with jet black ones.

yeah ive often thought that.. jet black would be nice. Almost anything would be nice than the peach horror in between floors LOL

I concur get rid of that crap, black would work well.

I concur get rid of that crap, black would work well.

Then it would be black completely a bit like langwood house also on Armagh st. The Vero building is the old Sun allaince house on the corner of Hereford and Oxford it was built in 1977 and originally orange for a decade then was blue for a number of years and now grey with everything else how inspiring is that. Maybe everyone paints in grey in CHCH as its the cheapest paint and now one wants to have a building that sticks out on the street.

Wow I didnt realise just how skody (that word again Davee) PWC looks close up! The amount they charge for rent Im certain the owners could shell some bucks for a do-up. Trouble is, might have trouble finding guys to do it. Everyones booked out solid for at least the next year.

But no Im still loving the salmon. Its like Miami Vice all over again!

Yeah nah Salmon has to be the biggest fail ever at turning a natural colour in to fashion, goddamn feminists, I find it exremely hard not to laugh at people who try to rock salmon attire, as our station of appreciation pointed out in his photos it needs some work and vaya come on cabrone we all love a sleek sexy shiny black tower ooohh yeaaah

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/7931780/A-design-for-future-generations

This is just academic interest but what buildings were proposed for Christchurch but were never built due to the 1987 sharemarket crash?

I know the Ballantynes store was to have been multi storey ultimately.

Ohh the Skytower thingy

Yeah that too. I'd hate to think how that tower would have fared in the recent quakes.

The Pinnacle

:cry:

Now that was one sexy mother.

http://christchurchsupercity.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/two-centres-like-paris-with-la-defense/

Unfortuently we don't have a historical district to preserve anymore..

The guy running that site is a complete nutjob.

We practically have two sky lines any way. What is left of the CBD, and then UC, which has several buildings of substantial size.
And yes, that website does have some pretty wacky ideas!:nuts:

I like the idea of a satellite cbd which I can see on the horizon, which can accomodate future growth, this I believe is on the horizon.

Would a good location for a CHC equivalent of La Defense be Riccarton Road?

Probably. It's a good area to densify and bulk up.

The whole ''la defence'' idea assumes that there is an historic core to preserve... Alas not the case in Chch.
I really hope they can get lots of people living in the cbd area in the next years. It would be a shame if too much new residential development takes the form of new suburbs.

In terms of scale the current city plan seems more geared towards a population of around 500,000 with around 30,000 living in the cbd or four avenues area, I think planning should be for around 750,000 to upwards of a million, which would include a satellite cbd, which could continue growth long after the rebuild, not sure if the Paris example was a good one.

We just need a CBD back - let alone dreaming about being something like Paris!

I was in Hornsby (NW Sydney) a couple of weeks ago - and that had more of a buzz, hum and height about it than the centre of Christchurch - now that's sad.......

Yeah Christchurch took quite a hit, seeing it so lifeless is a sad sight, still things can only get better.http://www.futurechristchurch.co.nz/central-city

We just need a CBD back - let alone dreaming about being something like Paris!

I was in Hornsby (NW Sydney) a couple of weeks ago - and that had more of a buzz, hum and height about it than the centre of Christchurch - now that's sad....... These days I live vicariously through cities like Sydney and Melbourne and regularly check out their Skyscraper forums and online news articles for new developments since I can't really get excited about our own - there's so much exciting stuff going on, especially in Melbourne. Even the much smaller centres are a hive of large-scale construction activity. It's hard not to feel a tinge of envy.

^^Yes even Townsville has more high rises now and far more underway than Christchurch even Cairns has twice as many. Christchurch has 10 left now originally we had 50. (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Christchurch) Also some of them will go for sure 4 have the fate undecided and new ones not allowed in the city plan. We could still see the Forsyth Barr and Police buildings go the later has been earthquake strengthened in 1993 but is vacant. So it maybe able to be spared just need a new use would make a big hotel if it was converted hint hint!

Loohttp://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/perspective/8645115/New-stadium-plan-smart-boldks as though Christchurch isn't going to be a highrise city sadly, some of the new developments are gathering moment, hopefully haven't seen a great deal which has been particularly inspiring hopefully it is only early days. This project looks good.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/perspective/8645115/New-stadium-plan-smart-bold

Seats for 28,000 spectators, are you for real!!! Why even bother with a small stadium like that.

"Craig says it looks like a basket weave and evokes a korowhai, or Maori cloak."
what?

Gee and reading those comments, sounds like there might be a few Bev's in Chch!!! All these "I don't like rugby, we can't afford it, it will be a white elephant, Dunedin is going broke and can't pay the contractors." Man I realise why I left NZ, the mentality is so depressing at times.

"Craig says it looks like a basket weave and evokes a korowhai, or Maori cloak."
what?

Wow, that's exciting :banana:

Widespread demolition, beefed up structural requirements and strict planning rules have dictated how new Christchurch buildings look, says a leading local architect.

Designs for new Christchurch buildings often attract a negative reaction, with many complaining they are unimaginative glass boxes.

Canterbury chairman of the New Zealand Institute of Architects David Hill said it was not a surprising response.

"Change is easier to handle when it's small and gradual, but of course the change to the fabric of our city has been big and sudden."

New structural codes, the loss of hundreds of buildings and the new city plan all influence a building's final shape, he said.

"The changes since the earthquakes have been very dramatic. It has been very sudden and it will take people time to get used to it. It is a big change."

He said it was hard to design a building for an empty site in a largely demolished street.
more:


http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/8802897/Architects-defend-dull-new-city-designs