Office high rise in Christchurch Central City, New Zealand
This article is about the building in Christchurch, New Zealand. For the similarly named building in Dunedin, New Zealand, see
The Octagon, Dunedin
.
The
Crowne Plaza Christchurch
, formerly known as the
Forsyth Barr Building
, is located on the south-east corner of the Armagh and
Colombo Streets
intersection in
Christchurch
, New Zealand. Originally owned by
Bob Jones
and branded
Robert Jones House
by him, it was commonly referred to as
Bob Jones Tower
, but some called it
Bob's Folly
. In the
2011 Christchurch earthquake
, its staircases collapsed, trapping the occupants. The building reopened in July 2017 as the city's
Crowne Plaza
hotel.
History
[
edit
]
The original building on the location was the Golden Fleece Hotel, built in 1851.
[1]
The 1980s high-rise was a property speculation by Paynter Developments, who engaged Christchurch architecture firm
Warren and Mahoney
for the architectural design, and Holmes Consulting Group as structural engineers.
Fletcher Construction
was the contractor for the project. The building was finished in mid-1989 and sold to Robert Jones Investments (Canterbury), a company owned by
Bob Jones
. Jones, a property developer who had survived the
1987 stock market crash
, named the building
Robert Jones House
and put the initials "RJI" of his investment company on the building. Jones had a high public profile, as he had set up the
New Zealand Party
just prior to the
1984 election
to oppose
Robert Muldoon
, but the effect of this was that the conservative vote was split, and the
Labour Party
won the election, and
David Lange
formed the
Fourth Labour Government
. The building was commonly referred to as
Bob Jones Tower
, but some called it
Bob's Folly
in relation to his 1984 election interference.
The building was later sold and named for New Zealand
investment banking
firm Forsyth Barr.
Built with 17 storeys,
[4]
the structure was at the time Christchurch's second tallest building at 70 metres (230 ft), after the 1986
Hotel Grand Chancellor
at 85 metres (279 ft). Two further high rises overtook the Forsyth Barr House over time, first the
PricewaterhouseCoopers
building in 1990 at 76.3 metres (250 ft), and then the
Pacific Tower
in 2010 at 86 metres (282 ft). It was an unusual design for Warren and Mahoney, who had until then worked with exposed concrete beams that showed the structure of buildings, but chose a
glass curtain wall
design with aluminium panels that hid the structure. This construction system became the norm for office buildings for the next two decades based on construction techniques pioneered in Christchurch.
According to historian
Geoffrey Rice
, many architects regard this building as Warren and Mahoney's "ugly duckling",
and Paul Walker, professor of architecture at the
University of Melbourne
, asks: "Does anyone love the monolithic Forsyth Barr building on Colombo Street...?"
[6]
In 2008, the Forsyth Barr Building was one of three A-grade office buildings in central Christchurch; the others were the PricewaterhouseCoopers Building, and the
Clarendon Tower
.
[7]
2011 Christchurch earthquake
[
edit
]
After the
September 11 attacks
in 2001, emergency supplies for an evacuation of this high-rise were installed, including ropes, sledge hammers, and axes.
[9]
In the
2011 Christchurch earthquake
, the staircases in Forsyth Barr House collapsed, trapping the occupants. One of the trapped occupants, a trained mountain guide with experience in mountain rescue, had windows broken and
abseiled
people onto an adjacent car parking building. The photo of one of the occupants being abseiled along the glass facade, taken by
The Press
photographer John Kirk-Anderson, is one of the enduring images of that earthquake.
[9]
Search of the building was technically difficult for
urban search and rescue
(USAR) teams, requiring the deconstruction of 4-tonne stair sets, but the building was cleared with no victims discovered.
[10]
The Hotel Grand Chancellor and PricewaterhouseCoopers were both demolished subsequent to the earthquake, hence the Forsyth Barr Building is once more Christchurch's second tallest building. Until mid-2013, it was unclear whether the Forsyth Barr Building would also be demolished, or whether it was economic to repair it.
[11]
Subsequent to the earthquakes, the
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
(CERA) developed a
Christchurch Central Recovery Plan
. Almost two city blocks were designated for the
Performing Arts Precinct
, including the land that the Forsyth Barr Building was located on.
This meant that
The Crown
could have compulsorily acquired the land from its owners if it wanted to go ahead with the Performing Arts Precinct.
[13]
The designation was later lifted and the size of the Performing Arts Precinct designation reduced after
Christchurch City Council
had decided to restore the existing
Christchurch Town Hall
instead of building a new one within this precinct.
[14]
Conversion to hotel
[
edit
]
The earthquake-damaged building was sold in an "as is, where is" state for
NZ$
8 million.
[4]
In December 2014, it was revealed that the building will be leased to the Crowne Plaza chain for a hotel, replacing the former
Crowne Plaza hotel
that stood diagonally opposite across
Victoria Square
prior to the earthquakes.
[4]
[15]
In late 2015, new staircases were installed.
[4]
The new hotel opened on 1 July 2017, offering 204 rooms.
[1]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
McDonald, Liz (29 June 2017).
"Christchurch's new Crowne Plaza hotel to open this weekend after 'long haul'
"
.
The Press
. Retrieved
25 December
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
McDonald, Liz (18 November 2015).
"High-flying stairway takes"
.
The Press
. p. A6
. Retrieved
21 November
2015
.
- ^
Matthews, Philip (13 June 2008).
"Distinctive Christchurch by Warren and Mahoney"
.
The Press
. Retrieved
22 November
2015
.
- ^
Hutching, Chris (13 June 2008).
"Garden City scores new $25m office tower"
.
National Business Review
. Retrieved
23 November
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Moore, Chris (2011).
Earthquake: Christchurch, New Zealand, 22 February 2011
. Auckland:
Random House
. pp. 74f.
ISBN
978-1-86979-699-0
.
- ^
"Forsyth Barr search ends with no bodies found"
.
Radio New Zealand News
. 10 March 2011
. Retrieved
11 March
2011
.
- ^
Gates, Charlie (31 May 2013).
"Hotel plan for Forsyth Barr building"
.
The Press
. Retrieved
23 November
2015
.
- ^
Cairns, Lois (30 July 2012).
"Rebuild plan for Christchurch unveiled"
.
The Press
. Retrieved
15 August
2015
.
- ^
Stylianou, Georgina (23 November 2013). "Highest bid could fall short".
The Press
. p. A2.
- ^
McDonald, Liz (3 December 2014).
"Forsyth Barr building to become Crowne Plaza Hotel"
.
Stuff
. Retrieved
23 November
2015
.
Sources
[
edit
]
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