Style: May 04, 2017

40 STYLE | arts rebuild
WHAT CAN A
BUILDING BE?
Four walls and a roof are just the starting point.
WORDS RICHARD DALMAN
What is a building? What can it be? Bits of concrete,
steel, timber, glass? Some or all of these of course,
but buildings can be and should be more, much
more.
They can be functional places to do business,
to live in, for recreation and cultural events, or for
meetings and worship.
Buildings can provide places for people to come
together to celebrate, and they can help unite a
community. Think of the QEII Stadium in 1974 for
the Commonwealth Games, the Christchurch Town
Hall for the last concert you attended, your local
corner pub or the Transitional Cathedral discussed in
my last article.
Buildings can not only keep us warm or cool and
the rain off our heads, they can keep us secure,
surprise and delight us, have meaning and soul, and
become an important part of our everyday lives.
When the new Salvation Army building was
opened on the corner of Colombo and Salisbury
streets, the congregation were asked to write one
word that summed up how they felt about their
building. These words have been grouped together
and can be seen on this page.
As the architects for the building, we are particularly
proud of the words “home”, “family” and “sanctuary”.
The Salvation Army have had a long journey from
their Durham Street Citadel to their new Colombo
Street premises, with many temporary locations
between.
Upon entering the new building, what you don’t
see is the cross of Jesus in plan, but what you do
experience on the main circulation route is the long
axis of the cross, with most of the spaces radiating
off this. These spaces include the worship hall, which
sits on the street corner so is most visible.
The concrete fins to Colombo Street represent
the Salvation Army’s eleven Articles of Faith which
form their core beliefs. It is through these fins that
they see out to the community during worship.
Because the Salvation Army is very much
connected to the community, the two wings either
side of the worship hall are fully glazed with columns
that create a front porch to each of the two main
streets. These say, “welcome, come in”. This building
can be and is open to the community, welcoming all
people in.
So while this building is made of concrete, steel,
wood and glass, it is more than this. It is already a
place of worship and a local community hub, and
time will tell what other roles the building will have
and what meaning it will create in people’s lives.