Christchurch City Mission

The new two story building with basement for the Christchurch City Mission, was designed to look like 3 separate buildings with construction taking place across the series of earthquake events of 2010 and 2011. This resulted in a change in approach both to the sequence and scope of works on the City Mission site.

An area under the foundation where subsidence had occurred was drilled horizontally and filled with grout in order to provide a stabilised area for construction to continue, and precast panels were installed in stages with the floor being poured progressively, in order to tie each section of panels into the foundations prior to the standing of the next set of panels. This methodology was more time consuming than placing panels in a single batch, however provided an essential element of safety amidst the on-going aftershocks.

The resulting building proudly displays details including plywood dados, glass balustrades and timber ceilings, capped with a mixture of pitched and flat roofs, which house offices, a food bank, short term residential quarters for men, and a detoxification unit for women to aid the on-going services that the Christchurch City Mission provide.