Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The Westende building on the corner of Worcester and Manchester Streets is one of the first new buildings".
Page 4 of Section C of the Christchurch Press, published on Saturday 9 April 2011.
he 2016 Building (Earthquake Prone Building) Amendment Act aims to improve the system for managing earthquake-prone buildings. The proposed changes to the Act were precipitated by the Canterbury earthquakes, and the need to improve the seismic safety of New Zealand’s building stock. However, the Act has significant ramifications for territorial authorities, organisations and individuals in small New Zealand towns, since assessing and repairing heritage buildings poses a major cost to districts with low populations and poor rental returns on commercial buildings.
This paper describes the pounding damage sustained by buildings in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Approximately 6% of buildings in Christchurch CBD were observed to have suffered some form of serious pounding damage. Typical and exceptional examples of building pounding damage are presented and discussed. Almost all building pounding damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, highlighting their vulnerability to this phenomenon. Modern buildings were found to be vulnerable to pounding damage where overly stiff and strong ‘flashing’ components were installed in existing building separations. Soil variability is identified as a key aspect that amplifies the relative movement of buildings, and hence increases the likelihood of pounding damage. Building pounding damage is compared to the predicted critical pounding weaknesses that have been identified in previous analytical research.
This paper describes the pounding damage sustained by buildings in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Approximately 6% of buildings in Christchurch CBD were observed to have suffered some form of serious pounding damage. Typical and exceptional examples of building pounding damage are presented and discussed. Almost all building pounding damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, highlighting their vulnerability to this phenomenon. Modern buildings were found to be vulnerable to pounding damage where overly stiff and strong ‘flashing’ components were installed in existing building separations. Soil variability is identified as a key aspect that amplifies the relative movement of buildings, and hence increases the likelihood of pounding damage. Building pounding damage is compared to the predicted critical pounding weaknesses that have been identified in previous analytical research.
Damaged building on Colombo Street, with the Copthorne Hotel and Forsyth Barr buildings in the background.
A photograph of Julia Holden's painting 'Blue Building'.
A debate on the architectural way forward for earthquake hit Christchurch ahead of an exhibition and series of talks initiated by the New Zealand Institute of Architects.
A photograph of Julia Holden's painting 'Cotter Building'.
A photograph of Julia Holden's painting 'Cotter Building'.
A photograph of Julia Holden's painting 'Blue Building'.
A colour photograph of 158-160 Manchester Street, taken during the demolition of the Manchester Courts.
Medlab South building seen across an empty section on Colombo Street where a damaged building has been removed.
Medlab South building seen across an empty section on Colombo Street where a damaged building has been removed.
File Reference: CCL-2010-CanterburyProvincial-IMG_0779 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
File Reference: CCL-2010-CanterburyProvincial-IMG_0783 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
File Reference: CCL-2010-CanterburyProvincial-IMG_0780 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
File Reference: CCL-2010-CanterburyProvincial-IMG_0781 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
File Reference: CCL-2010-CanterburyProvincial-IMG_0782 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
None
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These cracks would worry me but apparently the building is generally Ok.