How should Lyttelton be rebuilt?

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How should Lyttelton be rebuilt?

3News NZ

Lyttelton resident Anne Stanaway

Lyttelton resident Anne Stanaway

Lyttelton was the nearest settlement to the epicentre of big February quake in Christchurch. The downtown area, with all its historic colonial buildings, took a pounding and pretty much anything built of stone or brick was damaged, badly damaged.

Now it is time to rebuild, and some believe Lyttelton's heritage status is in the way. 

It's a battle that's likely to define the future look of the historic port town, an argument over the old versus the new, and the right of property owners to design the buildings they want.

At the centre of the controversy is what's known locally as the Stanaway Building.

Watch the video to see John Sellwood’s report.

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Comments

6/03/2013 9:02:03 p.m.

Terry McCann wrote:

I'm beginning to wonder if it's just one guy who's been commissioned to design all the new buildings for Canterbury because all the designs I've seen so far all look the same. There's no variation. They're all boxes with boxes sticking out of the boxes with some vertical bits running up a wall and that's about it. If I was seeing some real variation in the designs being put forward I'd be a happy man because a city where every building looks the same as the next to my mind would be bloody boring and would date over night but that's exactly what I see happening because all the designs are the same. It's getting seriously frustrating now. Sorry, but this just looks like another boring box - if you've got thousands of containers sitting on the wharf why the hell would you want your house to look like one? Why not just weld a few containers on top of one another in that case and be done with it?

31/08/2012 12:00:18 p.m.

Irene Gromiko wrote:

Sorry but I think the design is hideous. It is imposing and does not blend into the landscape.

30/08/2012 9:53:54 a.m.

Janice Hardy wrote:

My father was a fireman in Lyttelton when the "Stanaway" building was a fire station, my mother worked in the library avove the fs. Top floor was used for FB social events.
Personally I feel the new building is hideous and does not reflect Lytteltons historic significance. New buildings are being erected in Norwich Quay they are in keeping with existing buildings, why can't the Stanaways do the same.
I love Lyttelton and have many wonderful memories, the destruction of both fire stations has left me extremely upset but it had to be done I suppose.

Regards,

Janice

22/08/2012 1:34:42 a.m.

Mary wrote:

The CCC are being ridiculous on this one. As a designer I support the design, which appears to have been well thought out. We are told to build light and all we see going up in the city is more tilt slab structures... Boring! What's more being a rigid building structure they crack as we have all seen, so they are showing construction joints to look like 8"x4" sheets so that the cracks won't be noticed. They must think we are all stupid/?

21/08/2012 9:50:50 p.m.

Blair wrote:

Regardless of whether that building is modern or not I think it looks ugly.

20/08/2012 9:28:19 p.m.

steve wrote:

CCC are continually unbelievable. If we live a democracy and this is what the people of Lyttelton want, this is what they should have. sadly I'm not sure chch is a democracy. Trying to recreate historic buildings only looks stupid, just look at the buildings around the wellington bypass on upper Cuba st. heritage fanatics have had too much influence in chch for too long. This is the kind of innovative forward thinking that chch needs, but some conservative person doesn't like it, it doesn't match their idea of what Lyttelton should look like (a museum/movie set for sunday Lattes) so it's not going to happen.

20/08/2012 9:14:27 p.m.

Kiwi wrote:

With a bulldozer!

20/08/2012 7:18:51 p.m.

Chopper wrote:

I see a lot of quick start tilt slabs going up now in Christchurch, a common fear is that we will end up a concrete block quick fix city. Good on the Stanaways for making a difference, its this attitude overseas that makes travelling wonderful. Innovate and Create. CCC conservative squared

20/08/2012 5:26:16 p.m.

Aitchy wrote:

Misleading article. From the comments at the end, it appears that the decision has been made to publicly notify the application, which is reasonable given the challenging nature of the design and its location within a heritage area, and especially since the city plan for this area was written before the earthquake. Let it be notified, let people make submissions in support or opposition so a gauge can be taken of the public feeling for such a design. I hope you correct the misconception that the consent has been declined given at the start of the article.

20/08/2012 4:43:44 p.m.

Gavin wrote:

I'm no expert, on design or the heritage of the area, but I did live their for a couple of years. It looks pretty damned ugly to me :/