Digging Deep

I took a short walk around our area and had a wonderful coffee and came home again. On my way around I took some more shots of the Knox Plaza going up.. at the moment more like going deep. The men look like ants down there! I have taken many shots of this site as they have been working on it for well over a year. This is the building that was on this site.

I looked up what was going on this site and found it is a campus-style building. Here is what they say about it:

Knox Plaza, next to Knox Church, is another prime site on the Bealey Ave end of the street. Owned by businessman John Ryder, and completely independent of Knox Church's rebuild, it will include a $16 million to $18 million, four-storey project designed by MAP Architects to a "pretty fantastic set of rules", Kerry Mason says.

Discussions between architects and John began with him talking about a campus-style building. "That was his way of describing a low-rise building with landscaping, courtyard and spaces for the public," Kerry says.

Kerry and John agreed the building would resemble a university campus, taking a lead from "newer-age" companies with campus-style buildings, such as Apple, and focus on shared amenities and space between buildings.

"Most building owners want to maximise the site - put so much on it. John has taken a different stance. He wants it to be a building that has space around it, and so it is unusual," Kerry says.

The property will incorporate a cloistered walkway and internal courtyard, with architectural features sympathetic to the neighbouring Presbyterian church's gothic design. The courtyard will feature a 12-metre-high sculpture by leading Christchurch sculptor Graham Bennett. Law firm Duncan Cotterill will take over most of the Knox Plaza building, leaving room for some hospitality businesses.

"We have always said that we are committed to moving back into town," says Terry McLaughlin, chief executive of Duncan Cotterill, which has been operating from Sir William Pickering Dr in Burnside.

"The opportunity to fully lease this office space means we can be back much sooner than we might otherwise have been.

"The Knox Plaza development will be part of a fresh business face in an entrance to the city. Victoria St is fast becoming the place to be ... This building will tick all of those boxes and, at the same time, be a fantastic piece of architecture. The fact it is engineered to 130 per cent of the new building standard provides our staff and clients with additional reassurance."

Construction of the plaza development, which will be set behind a "transparent" single-storey building housing retail and hospitality outlets, is scheduled to be completed by September. Excavation for the basement and piling is well under way.
Taken From and for More Info.

This one shows you what it is going to look like..