A photograph of a sign giving information about the Gap Filler Dino-Sauna project.
A PDF copy of pages 168-169 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Lyttelton Petanque Club'. Photos: Gap Filler
A photograph of a clay tablet reading, "Triseatasaurus by Andrew Lyons. On load from Ali Begg.
A black and white photograph of the wooden structure supporting the Gap Filler Dino-Sauna.
A photograph of people sitting and standing outside the Gap Filler Dino-Sauna, on an empty site in Lyttelton.
A photograph of Gap Filler's Dino-Sauna, on an empty site in Lyttelton. In front of the sauna is a sign giving safety information.
A digitally manipulated image of damaged Music Centre. The photographer comments, "The destruction caused by the demolition of the heritage buildings damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes looks similar to the scenes in London during the second world war. The building was the Catholic Cathedral College, Christchurch. It was an integrated Catholic co-educational secondary school. It was founded in 1987, but its origins go back more than a 100 years earlier. The college was an amalgamation of two schools: Sacred Heart College for girls, and Xavier College for boys".
This week on the blog, we look at what we found beneath a local landmark in the community of Lyttelton: the newly refurbished Albion Square. The Albion Square, on the corner of London and Canterbury streets, is home of the … Continue reading →
A PDF copy of pages 186-187 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Dino-Sauna'. Photos: Gap Filler
A PDF copy of pages 278-279 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Porthole'. Photos: Tessa Peach
A PDF copy of pages 318-319 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Macbeth'. Photos: Darryl Cribb
A PDF copy of pages 260-261 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Light Inspiration for Lyttelton'. Photos: Alan Povall
A PDF copy of pages 258-259 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Upon the Upland Road'. Photos: Trent Hiles
Urban Ensembles explores the way in which landscape and architecture can be employed together within the design of a steep, urban site. Lyttelton is a small port town on the border of Christchurch, settled in the foothills of a harbour formed by a major volcanic eruption. This rugged setting, with steeply sloping urban terrain, presents an interesting challenge when designing an urban development. The site was badly damaged in a series of earthquakes in 2010-2011, and many of the town’s oldest buildings, heritage structures dating back to the colonial settlement era, were destroyed. This has left a void in the heart of Lyttelton, and caused the loss of much of the tourism business that the town relies upon for its income. This thesis takes a methodological approach to the design of landscape architecture on such a challenging site. A range of techniques are explored, drawing from both landscape and architecture to explore the roles that each discipline plays in the design of urban spaces. The frequent imbalance between disciplines is addressed both through the literature review and design method, as this landscape architecture thesis draws on architectural design as a tool for generating spaces which fall somewhere in between the two ideals of interior and exterior. The final design proposal is an alternative rebuild plan for the central business area to the south of London St, and also addresses the relationships between that site and the surrounding context, both urban and environmental. The aim of this design is to create a series of interconnected spaces which have a strong relationship to the surrounding harbour setting, and also to facilitate development of the pedestrian spaces throughout the block and encouraging the development of activity at the street level, through the interface between buildings and landscape.