Damaged buildings and empty demolition sites. The building on the left has had tarpaulins placed on it to prevent weather damage to the inside of the building.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 February 2013 entitled, "Charming Chimney".
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 15 July 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 17 June 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 20 May 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 14 January 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
Due to earthquake damage.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 July 2013 entitled, "Canvas Cathedral?".
The backs of damaged buildings on High Street.
The backs of damaged buildings on High Street.
The backs of damaged buildings on High Street.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 17 January 2013 entitled, "Vale Vero".
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 15 April 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 10 June 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 18 March 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 8 April 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
Christchurch earthquake events have raised questions on the adequacy of performance-based provisions in the current national building code. At present, in the building code the performance objectives are expressed in terms of safety and health criteria that could affect building occupants. In general, under the high intensity Christchurch events, buildings performed well in terms of life-safety (with a few exceptions) and it proved that the design practices adopted for those buildings could meet the performance objectives set by the building code. However, the damage incurred in those buildings resulted in unacceptably high economic loss. It is timely and necessary to revisit the objectives towards building performance in the building code and to include provisions for reducing economic implications in addition to the current requirements. Based on the observed performance of some buildings, a few specific issues in the current design practices that could have contributed to extensive damage have been identified and recommended for further research leading towards improved performance of structures. In particular, efforts towards innovative design/construction solutions with low-damage concepts are encouraged. New Zealand has been one of the leading countries in developing many innovative technologies. However, such technically advanced research findings usually face challenges towards implementation. Some of the reasons include: (i) lack of policy requirements; (iii) absence of demonstrated performance of new innovations to convince stakeholders; and (iv) non-existence of design guidelines. Such barriers significantly affect implementation of low damage construction and possible strategies to overcome those issues are discussed in this paper.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 11 July 2013 entitled, "Dangerous Demolition?".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 13 May 2013 entitled, "Restored Roadsigns".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 January 2013 entitled, "Squeaky Squatter?".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 10 March 2013 entitled, "Flattened Flats".
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 13 May 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
Heritage buildings are an important element of our urban environments, representing the hope and aspirations of a generation gone, reminding us of our achievements and our identity. When heritage buildings suffer damage, or fall into disrepair they are either met by one of two extremes; a bulldozer or painstaking repair. If the decision to conserve defeats the bulldozer, current heritage practice favours restoration into a mausoleum-type monument to yesteryear. But what if, rather than becoming a museum, these heritage buildings could live on and become a palimpsest of history? What if the damage was embraced and embodied in the repair? The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, Christchurch is the case study building for this thesis. Suffering damage in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, the Cathedral sits in ruin waiting for decisions to be made around how it can be retained for future generations. This thesis will propose a reconstruction for the Cathedral through the analysis of precedent examples of reconstructing damaged heritage buildings and guided by a heritage framework proposed in this thesis. The employed process will be documented as an alternative method for reconstructing other damaged heritage buildings.
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 09 June 2013 entitled, "Outer Spaces".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 11 September 2013 entitled, "Arcadian Art".
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 5 August 2013 entitled, "Colourful Canterbury Brewery Building Going".
Broken windows and damaged cladding on the iStay building. Security fences have been placed around the building to restrict access.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 26 April 2013 entitled, "Fond Farewells".
Fencing and scaffolding have been placed alongside damaged buildings on Worcester Street.
As a result of the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the more damaging 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, considerable damage occurred to a significant number of buildings in Christchurch. The damage that occurred to the Christchurch Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica) as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes is reported, and the observed failure modes are identified. A previous strengthening intervention is outlined and the estimated capacity of the building is discussed. This strengthening was completed in 2004, and addressed the worst aspects of the building's seismic vulnerability. Urgent work was undertaken post-earthquake to secure parts of the building in order to limit damage and prevent collapse of unstable parts of the building. The approach taken for this securing is outlined, and the performance of the building and the previously installed earthquake strengthening intervention is evaluated.A key consideration throughout the project was the interaction between the structural securing requirements that were driven by the requirement to limit damage and mitigate hazards, and the heritage considerations. Lessons learnt from the strengthening that was carried out, the securing work undertaken, and the approach taken in making the building "safe" are discussed. Some conclusions are drawn with respect to the effectiveness of strengthening similar building types, and the approach taken to secure the building under active seismic conditions. AM - Accepted Manuscript