Top design lauded as new face of city living
A modern urban village designed by an award-winning team of Italian architects is being held up as the new face of central-city living in Christchurch.
The Italians’ design for 72 terraced houses and apartments on an almost one-hectare block opposite Latimer Square has won top prize in an international design competition run by central and local government in a bid to demonstrate what urban developments in Christchurch’s new city centre could look like.
Rome-based Anselmi Attiani Associated Architects will now team up with the Cresco Group and Riccarton-based Holloway Builders to turn their plans for the barren site, which was once home to a backpacker hostel, into a reality.
Subject to finance, it is expected construction will begin in the second half of 2014.
The Italians were chosen as the winners from four finalists after initially being short-listed from an international pool of 58 entries.
Their scheme features a medium-rise main building with a commercial zone fronting all public streets at ground level and apartments from the first floor up, as well as two to three storeyed timber-clad terraced housing built around an inner courtyard.
All the apartments have generous-sized terraces with views over the city centre while the terraced houses all have private gardens.
The apartments will range in size from 72 square metres to 292sqm, while the terraced houses will be sized from 110sqm to 285sqm.
Unit prices have yet to be
finalised but it is expected they will range from $300,000 to $900,000.
A public passageway will lead people through the development into an inner courtyard, which will have two water features – an interactive summer fountain and an all-seasons reflecting pool.
Workshops, professional studios, small offices, a health centre, an early childhood centre, shops and common areas are also included in the multimillion-dollar development, which features sustainable materials and is designed to be both low maintenance and durable.
The development will incorporate seismic-resistance techniques known as ARMADILLO, which are both earthquake resilient and offer a fast way of re-levelling and stabilising post-earthquake to allow re-occupation.
Christchurch’s mayor-elect Lianne Dalziel said the winning design was ‘‘hugely exciting’’ and an example of the ‘‘innovation and opportunities that the Christchurch rebuild is generating’’.
‘‘Christchurch will be setting the standard for high quality modern inner city living,’’ she said.
The judging panel for the competition was headed by architect Stuart Gardyne and included Kevin McCloud, the host of popular British television programme Grand Designs.
Gardyne said there was a ‘‘beauty and maturity’’ about the winning design.
‘‘Space is well defined . . . and there is a balance and clarity as to what is private and what is communal.
‘‘It is extremely well done and any city would benefit from having a scheme as desirable as this in place,’’ he said.
McCloud said the scheme was well considered and built on the vernacular of timber dwellings in the area: ‘‘It imports some of the more progressive international ideas in public realm design’’.
The judges said the high standard of entries had made picking a winner difficult and that any of the four schemes shortlisted would have been of benefit to Christchurch.