"Heritage Buildings, Earthquake Strengthening and Damage: the Canterbury earthquakes September 2010 - January 2012", a report submitted by the then New Zealand Historic Places Trust to the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission. The report was written by Robert McClean.
A video of stills of Christchurch in 2009. The video highlights the heritage buildings and architecture which has been damaged or lost since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard evidence that a heritage order on a row of dangerous buildings may have contributed to the deaths of a dozen people in the February quake.
"Training and Education of Engineers and Organisation of Engineering Profession and Building Assessment after Earthquakes", a report submitted by the then New Zealand Historic Places Trust on the Royal Commission Discussion Papers.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to 217 Tuam Street.
Witnesses before the Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission have been questioned over whether preservation of heritage buildings was given more consideration than preserving human lives.
A video of a tour of the historic Canterbury Club building on Cambridge Terrace. The club will reopen on 9 June 2012, after an intensive rebuild and restoration process which has fixed the damage from the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The video also includes an interview with Dr Brent Stanley, the Canterbury Club President. Stanley talks about the strengthening work that was done in 2009, as well as the history of the club.
A company helping to demolish earthquake damaged buildings in Christchurch, has come to the rescue of the heritage-listed Peterborough Centre.
A video of a press conference with Bishop Victoria Matthews in the Botanic Gardens about the plans for the earthquake-damaged ChristChurch Cathedral. Matthews announces that the cathedral will be deconstructed, allowing the safe retrieval of taonga and heritage items within the building.
A video about the time capsule found in the foundations of the former Press Building in Cathedral Square. Heritage consultant Jenny May shows the contents of the time capsule, including several coins, newspaper articles, and messages. The capsule was left by the architects and the people working on the building, rather than the editors of The Press.
Site of a fund that exists to provide financial assistance to owners of earthquake damaged qualifying heritage buildings so that the buildings can be saved if they are repairable.
The demand for a new approach to safeguarding New Zealand’s endangered historic buildings was identified as a result of the recent increase in building code and strengthening requirements following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-2011. The Wellington City Council identified 266 heritage buildings in the city that must be either strengthened or demolished to address these increased requirements. This thesis explores this threat as an opportunity for researching how contemporary design interventions can be challenged to both strengthen and become active participants in the ongoing history of New Zealand’s potentially endangered historic buildings. This thesis challenges the current approach of completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand, to develop techniques that structurally reinforce historic buildings while inviting the progressive weathering of a building to remain as a testament to its history. This thesis proposes a structural intervention that is responsive to the progressive history of historic buildings, simultaneously introducing a contemporary structural intervention that both participates in and compliments the progressive historic transformations of the vehicle. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the life of a building, while fully restored buildings only enable visitors to witness the original form of the building. This thesis proposes a model for contemporary intervention within historic buildings that draws a design intervention from seismic strengthening.The notion of layering is explored as a design approach to incorporate the contemporary with the historic as an additional layer of exposed on-going history, thereby further exposing the layers of history evident within New Zealand’s historic buildings. This thesis combines layering theories of architects Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa with related theories of installation artist Mary Miss. The theoretical imperatives of Scarpa and Kahn are explored as a tool of engagement for the junction between the contemporary and historic building materials, and the work of Marry Miss is explored as a design approach for developing a contemporary intervention that references the layered historic building while inviting new means of occupancy between layers. The selected vehicle for the design research investigation is the Albemarle Hotel on Ghuznee Street in Wellington. The techniques proposed in this thesis to strengthen the Albemarle Hotel suggest an approach that might be applied to New Zealand’s wider body of historic buildings that constitute New Zealand’s heritage fabric, ultimately protecting them from demolition while preserving additional layers of their historic narratives. Over all the design research experiments suggest that contemporary interventions derived from structural strengthening may be a viable and cost-effective method of re-inhabiting New Zealand’s endangered heritage buildings, avoiding demolition and securing New Zealand’s heritage for future generations. Research Questions: This thesis challenges the current economically unsustainable approach of laterally reinforcing and completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the on-going life of a building. Can the weathered state of New Zealand's heritage buildings be proactively retained and celebrated as witnesses to their history? Can new lateral reinforcing requirements be conceived as active participants in revealing the on-going history of New Zealand's historic buildings?
Stonemason Mark Whyte puts sculpting commissions aside in order to respond to the Christchurch earthquakes and save classic street facades from the 1870s. Across the Red Zone and 3 generations of the Aires family- Bob, Rob and Suzie are at work on the Heritage Hotel which were the old government buildings.
A pdf transcript of Belle's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Small, tight-knit communities, are complex to manage from outside during a disaster. The township of Lyttelton, New Zealand, and the communities of Corsair Bay, Cass Bay, and Rapaki to the east, are especially more so difficult due to the terrain that encloses them, which caused them to be cut-off from Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island, barely 10 km away, after the Mw 7.1 Darfield Earthquake and subsequent Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. Lyttelton has a very strong and deep-rooted community spirit that draws people to want to be a part of Lyttelton life. It is predominantly residential on the slopes, with retail space, service and light industry nestled near the harbour. It has heritage buildings stretching back to the very foundation of Canterbury yet hosts the largest, modern deep-water port for the region. This study contains two surveys: one circulated shortly before the Darfield Earthquake and one circulated in July 2011, after the Christchurch and Sumner Earthquakes. An analytical comparison of the participants’ household preparedness for disaster before the Darfield Earthquake and after the Christchurch and Sumner Earthquakes was performed. A population spatiotemporal distribution map was produced that shows the population in three-hourly increments over a week to inform exposure to vulnerability to natural hazards. The study went on to analyse the responses of the participants in the immediate period following the Chrsitchurch and Sumner Earthquakes, including their homeward and subsequent journeys, and the decision to evacuate or stay in their homes. Possible predictors to a decision to evacuate some or all members of the household were tested. The study also asked participants’ views on the events since September 2010 for analysis.