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Centra Building

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Not to be confused with Central Building.

Centra Building
Centra Building from outside the Red Zone cordon (December 2011)
Alternative namesCentra Hotel, United Bank Building, Holiday Inn Christchurch City Centre
General information
TypeCommercial
Architectural stylePostmodernism
LocationChristchurch Central, New Zealand
Year(s) built1986 – 1989
Completed1989
Renovated2009
Demolished2012
Renovation costNZ$2.5M
OwnerPhilip Carter
Height60 meters
Design and construction
Architect(s)Peter Beaven
Renovating team
Architect(s)Dalman Architecture Limited

The Centra Building (also known as the Centra Hotel, United Bank Building and Holiday Inn Christchurch City Centre) was a former office tower and hotel in central Christchurch, New Zealand. It was designed by architect Peter Beaven in the post-modernist Christchurch style, and was the eighth tallest tower in the central city prior to its demolition.

Built in the late 1980s, the Centra Building was originally built as an office tower for the headquarters of the United Building Society, which later became United Bank. In the mid-1990s, it was acquired by Philip Carter and remodeled as a hotel. In 2004, it rebranded as Holiday Inn Christchurch City Centre, and became colloquially known as the Holiday Inn building.

The Centra building was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and was demolished in October 2012. The site sat vacant under Carter's ownership until the 2020s, when resource consent was granted in 2022 to build a new retail space on the site.

Construction and design

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The Centra Building was designed by architect Peter Beaven in his late career. He is thought to have drawn inspiration from the Manchester Unity Building in Christchurch (later known as SBS House) and the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings.[1]

Construction on the Centra Building began in 1986, with the laying of the foundations in June that year.[2] In 1988, the external cladding was added as the building took shape.[3] The property was completed in 1989.[1]

The Centra building featured a car park basement with a transformer helping supply power to nearby properties. There were 16 concrete Dycore floors, a mezzanine area, and the penthouse roof was made from copper, covering two levels supported by a steel structure.[4][1] In the early configuration of the building, there was a colonnaded banking chamber and multiple levels of uniform office space.[1] The basement had a substation in it.[5]

History

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The Centra Building was originally developed as an office tower,[6] and was home to the United Building Society which later became United Bank.[7][8][9][1]

Around 1995, Philip Carter of Carter Group purchased the property and began work to redevelop it into a hotel, undertaking a project estimated to have cost up to NZ$17M.[6] It was originally called the Centra Hotel before being rebranded in 2004 as Holiday Inn Christchurch City Centre. This is not to be confused with the Holiday Inn Avon, another Christchurch hotel which was owned by Carter.[6][10][11]

In 2009, the hotel was significantly refurbished, including the lobby, bar, and 120 guest rooms, helping it receive a Qualmark 4 Star Plus rating. The project was undertaken by Dalman Architecture Limited and cost NZ$2.5M, according to Carter.[12][6]

The Centra Building was severely damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It was permanently closed and cordoned off in the Christchurch red zone area.

Demolition

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See also: 2011 Christchurch earthquake
View from Manchester Street, with the Hotel Grand Chancellor in the background (2011)

In February 2012, Carter announced the project to demolish the tower was out for tender, but wouldn't elaborate on the condition of the building at the time.[6]

Demolition began in October[13] undertaken by Nikau Group. It was later claimed that the structure was considered high risk of collapse, resulting in a more complicated demolition process.[14][4] The famous Twinkle Toes excavator was brought in to help rapidly deconstruct the building.[13] Beaven later described the destruction of the buildings he designed, including the Centra Building, as a "huge, shattering loss."[15]

The site remained unused for over a decade, with the basement level partially exposed to the elements.[16] A plan to rebuild Ao Tawhiti school on the site fell through in 2016; the school had previously announced it would build and occupy a property on the land by 2017. Carter declined to comment on his plans, but claimed in 2015 he had "endeavoured to enable the return" of the inner-city school.[17][18]

In 2017, the Christchurch city council included the former Centra Building site on their "dirty 30" list of properties considered dangerous or eyesores, regarding it as a hindrance to the rebuild effort.[16]

In 2022, Carter Group received resource consent to build on the site. The new property will likely be used for retail and office space, and has no connection to the former property other than its location.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Story: Beaven, Peter Jamieson". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  2. ^ Star, Christchurch (2 June 1986). "Foundations of the United Building Society headquarters". Christchurch Star Archive, Archive 1072. Copy Prints. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ^ Star, Christchurch (19 March 1988). "Christchurch high rise construction". Christchurch Star Archive, Archive 1072. Copy Prints. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Nikau Group Strategic Deconstruction & Environmental :: Holiday Inn Tower Christchurch". www.nikaugroup.com. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  5. ^ "A dirty job - demolishing the Holiday Inn Centre". KHL Group. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Wood, Alan (15 February 2012). "Christchurch's Holiday Inn to be demolished". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Former United Bank building". discoverywall.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  8. ^ Lochhead, Ian; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "UBS (later Holiday Inn), Christchurch". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  9. ^ "High Street from Cashel Street car park". discoverywall.nz. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Crowne Plaza Queenstown to be launched in September 2005". Hotel News Resource. 31 March 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  11. ^ "InterContinental Hotels Group and The Carter Group to purchase Parkroyal Queenstown". Travel News Asia. 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Money Well Spent Leads to Rewards for Holiday Inn". Scoop. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  13. ^ a b Gates, Charlie (13 September 2012). "Twinkle Toes checks in". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  14. ^ White, Cathy (15 November 2012). "Demolition of Holiday Inn". Kete Christchurch Canterbury earthquakes 2010/2011 collection. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  15. ^ Gates, Charlie (5 March 2012). "Architects 'shattered' by Christchurch's loss". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  16. ^ a b Walton, Steven (1 February 2020). "Christchurch's 'Dirty 30' derelict sites still a work in progress". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  17. ^ O'callaghan, Jody; McDonald, Liz (17 February 2016). "New central Christchurch site for merger school Ao Tawhiti falls through". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  18. ^ "STATEMENT OF EVIDENCE OF PHILIP MAURICE CARTER ON BEHALF OF CARTER GROUP LIMITED (SUBMITTER 3602/FURTHER SUBMITTER 5062)" (PDF). Independent Hearings Panel for the Christchurch Replacement District Plan. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  19. ^ McDonald, Liz (27 July 2022). "New building approved for Christchurch city hotel site sitting vacant for almost a decade". Stuff. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
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