Christchurch Rebuild - Triple Helix - Ben Bellamy

University of Canterbury is New Zealand’s second oldest university, being founded in 1873. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Ilam, Christchurch after being moved out of the central city between 1961 to 1974. The original campus buildings became home to the Christchurch Arts Centre, a place where entertainment through arts and crats could be expressed. Due to the tragedy of Christchurch’s recent earthquakes, many of the university buildings have had to either be demolished or repaired. This has affected the university considerably as it has impacted the number of students enrolling, the quality of campus, the financial situation and the overall morale of the campus. Although a terrible event, the earthquakes have opened new doors for change and development. This involves options for how Canterbury may decide to expand the university and how it will impact the ‘new look Christchurch’.

The site is located in the block of Gloucester St, Barbadoes St, Madras St and Saint Asaph St and covers approximately 145,000sqm. Adjacent to the ‘frame’, the Innovation Precinct, and also Christchurch Polytechnic, the design will seek to enhance these features and through them enhance the campus. Local context will be fundamental to develop a design that benefits everyone. This will involve being sensitive to immediate and surrounding areas, being sustainable, acknowledging our culture and heritage, improving circulation and infrastructure.

Vision Statement: The vision for this development is to design a campus that benefits the university, the central city and Christchurch. It will be on the cuing edge of modern learning techniques, to increase the education received by students. In conjunction with this it will be a leading facility in pioneering sustainable principles into the Christchurch rebuild. Connecting to the Christchurch recovery plan and integrating into the strategy laid out be the council. The campus will draw overseas visitors and students that will improve the economics, enhance the culture, increase the vibrancy of the city and establish Canterbury University as a leading institute for education increase.