St Andrew's College Centennial Chapel
By Architectus
Architectus won the design competition for a new chapel following the damage to the original Memorial Chapel in the Canterbury earthquakes. With Christchurch having lost many of its built heritage, retaining a memory of the original Chapel as well as the memorial aspect of honouring the Old Collegians was an important part of the concept for the new chapel for the College.
To this end the design uses materials including brick, stone and timber and salvaged elements from the original Chapel which have been brought together in a forty metre long Memorial Wall. Special spaces for the Book of Remembrance, the baptismal font and for contemplation are contained within the four metre deep wall.
The Chapel’s roof is based on familiar regional forms – its ridges and valleys remind us of the ‘V-huts’, the first church buildings in Canterbury. The roof’s central valley folds up to create additional volume over the nave where it is punctuated by a lantern in the location of the original bell tower; it is a skylight, houses the old bell and makes another connection between the old and the new.
The nave is defined by the brick faced Memorial Wall on the north, a timber clad foyer on the west and vestry to the east. The south facade is realised as a folded glass screen. It is light and ethereal and stands in dialogue and contrast to the heavy, earthy Memorial Wall.
Sliding doors connect nave to foyer and the covered entry terrace. The congregation sits on re-used pews and new chairs, arranged as a collection of seating groups – establishing an intermediate scale between the individual and the group. The orientation of the pews allows the congregation to form a relationship with the college community via the visual connection to the school as the backdrop for ceremony.
The Te Kāreti o Hāto Ānaru Te Kotahi Rau Tau o te Whare Karakia Centennial Chapel is a unique example of church architecture in New Zealand and its Dedication marked a momentous milestone, not only in St Andrew’s history but also in the renewal of Christchurch.
Location:
Christchurch
Completion:
2016
Products used in
St Andrew's College Centennial Chapel
Professionals used in
St Andrew's College Centennial Chapel
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About the
Professional
Architectus is an architecture and urbanism practice designing places and spaces tuned to their communities, context and culture. Advocates for integrated design, we apply a rigorous and tailored approach to create environments that are inspiring and enduring.
For over 30 years, we have been realising innovative and bespoke projects around Aotearoa New Zealand, shaping precincts and campuses with people and sustainability at their heart. Through a collaborative and integrated approach, we have had many successful joint ventures with local and international partners, and we enjoy a strong relationship with our associated studios in Australia.
Our Purpose
We believe architecture begins with a social agenda. It must nurture and grow communities and individuals, and enhance its neighbourhood and city. Appropriate, efficient and elegant architecture for today becomes the urban fabric of the future – we design for this longevity, to create places that will serve generations to come.
Design Philosophy
While a good project must firstly solve practical needs and be viable, a truly great project must embody a community’s broader cultural context: its urban and architectural setting, its local geography and ecology, and the stories of its people. The more meaningful a place becomes through a true sense of belonging, the greater the value and longevity it has for its community.
We believe placemaking in Aotearoa is grounded in a bicultural creative process. We partner with mana whenua to embed their aspirations and cultural narratives across functional, ceremonial, spatial and artistic dimensions.
Underpinning these human stories is our responsibility to be judicious with natural resources. Environmentally sensitive architecture requires us to be energy-efficient and space-efficient, and to use low-carbon materials and ethically sourced products.
This is a holistic approach that embeds our practice in a continuum of artistic and technical progress, so the architecture we are responsible for will be relevant for decades to come.
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