MAIN DESIGN OVAL

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 1

MAIN DESIGN OVAL

Plans for the Christchurch Town Hall and Civic Centre, designed by the Christchurch firm of Warren and Mahoney, were shown yesterday to representatives of the metropolitan local bodies which will help pay the £1,200,000 the buildings will cost.

A panel of architects chose the design from 58 entries in a New Zealand-wide competition. Under the rules, the winners get £3OO for reaching the preliminary selection of five designs, and £l5OO for winning the competition. First Stage The first stage—the Town Hall complex—is the only part of the design which required detailed planning. The central feature of the winning design is the Town Hall itself. It is a large oval building with a central core for a hall to seat 2250, surrounded by foyers and promenade spaces. The central core will rise above the surrounding foyers and promenades as an eliptical concrete structure.

The promenade spaces have fully glazed exterior walls with a view across the Avon river and Victoria square. Next to the Town Hall is the theatre and concert chamber. It has seating for 800 in a fan-shaped auditorium, with a tall rectangular stage tower winch is surrounded at ground level by a singlestorey dressing-room wing. Between the Town Hall and the theatre is a common en- * »

trance hall which has exhibition space for art displays. Leading off the exhibition space is a public restaurant to seat 150. It is on the ground floor and overlooks the river. Above the restaurant are refreshment balconies and foyers for the theatre and and Town Hall galleries, two general purpose meeting rooms, and the main banquet hall to seat 500. \ The Town Hall, theatre and entrance hall are all to be built of massive reinforced concrete poured in place. The promenade around the Town Hall and the whole first floor of the entrance hall and banquet hall will be pre-stressed concrete.

A separate two-storey kitchen wing will serve the restaurant and banquet hall. Both the Town Hall and theatre will have a common entrance from Kilmore street from a covered vehicular unloading area where taxis and private cars can unload occupants. On the river frontage there will be an entrance to the Town Hall across a paved courtyard.

Second Stage Warren and Mahoney also submitted designs for the second stage of the project—the council chamber, administration building and public library. Their council chamber is a two-storey building of elongated hexagonal shape, which faces towards the river. The chamber itself will be on the first floor of the building together with the council offices. Beneath will be a reception space and inquiry counters. Included in the council offices are a mayoral suite, committee rooms and reception roams. The council offices connect at their first-floor level with the 11-storey administration building, which has a floor area erf 80,000 sq. ft. The new public library will be a building shaped like a rectangle with its corners knocked off.

Below the paved courtyard which the administration building and the council office building surround will be underground parking facilities. (Site plan: Page 3)