Style: May 04, 2018

STYLE | architecture 37
Architect Richard Dalman highlights a
Christchurch building that transcends its
commercial purpose.
Building design can divide opinions. Take the ChristChurch
Cathedral for instance. For one person this is a colonial
neo-gothic masterpiece, a Christchurch landmark that must be
repaired and conserved at all cost. For another, it is a dull pile of
old stones that hasn’t functioned as a modern worship space for
decades.
Buildings act as functional structures that can house people
undertaking many different aspects of their lives – working,
playing, sleeping, worshipping, or just plain living.
But because they are three-dimensional objects, buildings can
also be seen as large-scale sculptural objects. And when they are
quite beautiful, they can even become desirable objects.
One such building constructed after the earthquakes that I
have admired is the Deloitte building at 151 Cambridge Terrace.
Not only does this building serve a functional purpose, it is also
a beautiful object.
Designed by architects Jasmax, it addresses Roman architect
Vitruvius’s three architectural mantras of utilitas (function),
firmitas (structure) and venustas (beauty or delight).
From a functional point of view, the floor plan is simple
and clear and provides logically laid out hospitality venues
with offices above. It even allows more shop frontage – with
the internal laneway ‘cutting the corner’ – than a traditionally
designed building would.
Structurally, the building is base isolated with pendulum
bearings, providing excellent resilience for future earthquakes.
And as far as beauty and delight are concerned, well, this is
where the building excels.
I could talk about how the building positively addresses the
acutely angled corner in a way that many of the old and now
demolished Christchurch buildings did. The strict rectangular grid
in central Christchurch is broken only by the two diagonal lines
of High and Victoria streets, and the meandering river. These
are the places in the central city where the drama takes place.
This building does not let us down and performs with aplomb.
But it is really the sensually curvaceous façade that lifts the
building into the realm of sculptural excellence and desire.
There is a direct relationship here with the curving Avon
River across Cambridge Terrace, which is obviously where the
concept for the wavy form originated. The architect says, “The
building’s distinctive rippling façade has taken design cues from
the Avon’s watercourse. Linking this building to its local context,
floor-to-ceiling glazing strengthens this connection by providing
occupants with unrestricted views out to the river and its
embankments.”
The exterior louvres follow the curves, accentuating them,
as well as providing solar control to the interior. The louvres
help to soften the glazed façade even more and provide colour
variation.
Principal at Jasmax, Alasdair Hood said he “wanted people
to engage with the interior of the building even if they were
not actually inside it, and by curving the corner people could
easily ‘float’ around and under the building”. At the ground level
the building opens up to the street with bars and restaurants
providing seating areas looking out across to the river and
activating the streetscape.
The wavy façades create interesting internal spaces, whether
adjacent to a corridor or office space. Because the curtain glass
wall is hung both beside and beyond the columns, sometimes it
is hard to distinguish whether you are actually inside or outside
the building.
The Deloitte building, for me, is an object of desire for two
reasons. The first is because, as a three-dimensional object on
a large scale, it is quite beautiful – like a piece of sculpture it sits
on a city corner by the river in a very elegant manner. I believe
it could also sit comfortably on the Canterbury Plains, in a big
landscape, as a piece of sculptural artwork.
The second reason is… I wish I had designed it!