Prison revives for visitor experience

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Apr 2017
Tourism intended for prison
By David Loughrey
Dunedin’s old prison has four new trustees, a new tenant with the tourism market in mind, and is ready to move to a new stage in its evolution. The 121-year-old Victorian-style courtyard facility designed by John Campbell has been returned to its original form. Work to replace decorative architectural elements removed from the front of the building was completed recently. Now the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust is turning its attention to future uses for the former jail that is one of the city’s more unusual historic buildings. The prison was decommissioned in 2007, and the trust bought the property in 2012. Trust chairman Owen Graham said the physical restoration work was 95% complete — ridge tiles and two 2-metre finials still had to be finished — but it was time to start a new stage of evolution for the building. The new trustees had been appointed for their range of skills and backgrounds, and would help the trust make decisions about what happened next. Those decisions could range from another part-upgrade or “go for a multimillion-dollar effort”. […] Mr Graham said part of the trust’s strategy was to start occupying parts of the prison to sustain its activities and “bring the prison back to life with different activities”. It had been working with a business that wanted to use the prison’s kitchen, which had been identified as “serviceable”.
Read more

The former prison has a Heritage New Zealand category one classification; future development involves discussion with Dunedin City Council and Heritage New Zealand.

█ Dunedin Prison | http://www.dunedinprisontrust.co.nz/

[excerpt from the trust’s website]

Timeline
Showing the many phases of use of the prison:
1896-1915 – new prison opened with cells for 52 men and 20 women
1915-1959 – Police move in to administration block and look after prisoners as well as their own duties
1959-1974 – 34 female prisoners are accommodated, segregated from men
1975-1994 – reopened catering for 59 male inmates
1994-2000 – Police move out to their new premises and prison reverts to original purpose as a men only facility
2007 – prison decommissioned and Corrections operation moved to Milburn
2011 – Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust formed to secure the prison for the nation
2012 – Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust raises $50,000 to allow it to purchase the property from Ngai Tahu Property Ltd
2014 – Conservation Plan completed
2015 – Fund-raising begins to allow us to restore the facades and repair part of the slate roof, estimated at $500,000.

Related Posts and Comments:
17.9.15 Dunedin Prison: Community Trust grant for restoration
16.9.15 DPAG exhibition talk, Sun 20 Sep —Jonathan Howard on Dunedin 1865
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
30.8.15 DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises…
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ … 29 Aug
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage
28.2.13 Tour the old prison in March (2013)
20.9.12 Dunedin Prison
6.6.12 Dunedin Prison purchased by trust
18.10.11 Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust
5.10.11 Training, jobs, city regeneration

█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: whatifdunedin sketchbook – Dunedin Prison (former)

rough sheds, sydney london

Tinshed by Raffaello Rosselli
Amy Frearson | 21 June 2013 ● Dezeen
Australian architect Raffaello Rosselli has repurposed a corroding tin shed in Sydney to create a small office and studio apartment. Rather than replace the crumbling structure, Raffaello Rosselli chose to retain the rusty corrugated cladding of the two-storey building so that from the outside it looks mostly unchanged. The project embraces that it will continue to change with time through rust, decay and repair.

“The humble tin shed is an iconic Australian structure,” he explains. “As the only remaining shed in the area it is a unique reminder of the suburb’s industrial past.”

The architect began by taking the building apart and replacing its old skeleton with a modern timber frame. He then reattached the cladding over three facades, allowing room for three new windows. The frames of the windows are made from sheets of Corten steel that display the same orange tones as the retained facade.

“The materials have been left raw and honest, in the spirit of its industrial economy,” adds Rosselli. In contrast with the exterior, the inside of the building has a clean finish with white walls and plywood floors in both the ground-floor living space and the first-floor office.
Read more + Images

*Photography by Mark Syke, apart from where otherwise indicated.

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Collage House, London

Dezeen Published on Feb 13, 2017
Movie explores Jonathan Tuckey’s home in a 19th-century workshop 14 years on
Filmmaker Tapio Snellman has documented the ageing process of architect Jonathan Tuckey’s home, 14 years after he overhauled a 19th-century London workshop to create it. The architect, who is the founder of London-based firm Jonathan Tuckey Design, renovated and extended the steel fabricator’s workshop in 2002 to create a unique home for his family and their dog. He left the bare brick walls tarnished with black marks and chose “simple and everyday” materials to rejuvenate the character of the building, but also because they would weather well. Snellman, who shot Collage House in 2016, captures the ageing of these materials – including nicks and scratches on a series metal fixture and doors by splitting the screen into four – a trick he repeats throughout his film. “The split-screen sequences talk about the occupants and about the way architecture is integrated seamlessly with family life and personal expression,” Snellman told Dezeen. “The four simultaneous views create one strong spatial impression without any single image dominating the effect,” he told Dezeen. Both moving and fixed larch plywood panels clad the exterior, while beach plywood sheeting used as a floor lining inside the house, along with a concrete covering. Douglas fir stud work was planed and left exposed to partition spaces. This enables zones of activity to be defined, while also maintaining openness throughout.

Movie explores Jonathan Tuckey’s home in a former London steel workshop
Eleanor Gibson | 13 February 2017 ● Dezeen
This photography taken by James Brittain when the project completed in the early 2000s shows how Tuckey overhauled the industrial building by partially demolishing walls to create a central courtyard. “Plywood has weathered beautifully on both the interior and exterior and the scuff marks of 15 years use now tell the personal story of the family,” Tuckey told Dezeen. “The concrete floors have patinated and subsequently become more beautiful,” he continued. “The exposed brick was already there but continued to age gracefully as it was used to hang pictures and the kids used it to draw on it.” A space that forms a central part of Snellman’s film is the open-plan kitchen-cum-dining room, which occupies the former workshop. Here, he captures diagonal patterns of light that floods in through the long skylight between the original wooden bowstring beams restored by Tuckey. Snellman contrasts colour footage with black and white in the film, as well as tracking members of the family through the house. “The very controlled track shots try to eliminate the viewers awareness of the presence of the camera, as if the space would be seen at its most intimate, when no-one is present,” the filmmaker told Dezeen.

Ground floor plan [click to enlarge]

First floor plan

When renovating the building, Tuckey’s aim was to maintain as many of the building’s existing features as possible, while also creating plenty of playful spaces that catered to his then-young children. He divided the long and narrow building, which widens at the southern end, into three parts. He also demolished one of the existing buildings to create a courtyard and a small pond. The entrance hall and living area occupy the northern end with a mezzanine above, while the kitchen-cum-dining room occupies the central space. A walkway links these spaces to the two-storey structure added to the southern side, which houses the bedrooms and a bathroom. Since the original renovation, Tuckey has reconfigured the arrangement of the bedrooms, as his now teenage daughters needed more space. The children’s bedrooms have moved upstairs from the downstairs, while the single room used by the parents was divided into two interconnected rooms. A pair of hatches in the bedrooms open to the rooftop terrance, which was also only recently completed by the designer.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Site Notice #DunedinHospital

This afternoon David Benson-Pope requested an unreserved apology from the website owner following publication of an image and various comments at a now deleted post concerning the Save Our Hospital campaign that was highlighted in a newspaper story published on 25 March 2017.

The website owner unreservedly apologises to Mr Benson-Pope for the publication of this material and any resulting discomfort or distress it may have caused.

An apology will be emailed to Mr Benson-Pope shortly, copy Sandy Graham, DCC.

Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner

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Reference:

### ODT Online Sat, 25 Mar 2017
Woodhouse blasts DCC
By Eileen Goodwin
National list MP Michael Woodhouse has lashed out at the Dunedin City Council over its hospital rebuild campaign, implying it is a front for the Labour Party. And Mr Woodhouse said the council’s stance was “confusing” — on the one hand it wants a central city rebuild, but it granted the Accident Compensation Corporation the right to consider buying the Frederick St car park. ACC has a 12-month timeframe to look at development options for the site. […] Mr Woodhouse is also ACC Minister, and he made it clear he was speaking as a local MP.
Read more

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Christchurch Cathedral : Marcus Brandt and the People’s Steeple Project

While Bishop Victoria and the Anglican church property trust (CPT) continue to sit on their hands perhaps awaiting devine intervention, who knew, it turns out that a group of stalwart people in New Zealand – with an incredible level of international assistance – are busy planning a very special Cathedral project.

From: Mark Belton
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 11:11 PM
To: [Elizabeth Kerr + RCC Mailing List]
Subject: Introducing The People’s Steeple

Dear Cathedral Restoration supporters

Below is a link to a video clip of the People’s Steeple proposal being demonstrated by its creator Marcus Brandt. Marcus has been in CHCH this last week promoting the People’s Steeple Project.

The People’s Steeple is a mind blowing proposal…audacious, visionary, inspiring. Lifting telescoping timber sections of the spire 60 metres into the sky…powered by about 500 trained people working 16 capstan winches placed around Cathedral Square, watched by up to 50,000 people in the Square.

The US based Timber Framers Guild (TFG), a professional organisation of engineers and timber framers has offered to be the lead contractor to build, assemble, and erect the People’s Steeple. The lead NZ engineers would be renowned CHCH timber engineer – Prof Andy Buchanan whose report on the project is attached.

Skilled TFG members from the US and around the world would gift their time, working in the Square preparing and assembling the timbers, and then helping lead the steeple’s erection. Up to 300 TFG members along with locals could be involved working in the Square over a period of about 6 months.

The TFG have successfully undertaken 75 community building projects over the last 25 years in the US and around the world. They are super keen to offer their services to CHCH. The TFG emphasise their projects are about ‘building communities’.

Marcus says would take only 2-3 hrs to lift and secure the telescoping sections. Flooring and bells would be assembled the same day and in the evening the bells would ring out…proclaiming to the world – ‘Christchurch is back’….and a Hangi feast would be opened…for a crowd of 50,000! International media would broadcast the event around the world…the whole enterprise being about engaging our community in the most positive way…and it would ignite fund raising for the restoration of the cathedral. It is envisaged the construction of the People’s Steeple would lead restoration of the cathedral and the Square.

It is noted huge pro bono contributions from the Guild’s members are being offered, and Blakely Pacific NZ Ltd, a US based forestry company has offered to provide the timbers at no cost from giant 125-year-old Port Orford Cedar from its Pioneer Forest in South Canterbury.

The Restore Christchurch Cathedral Group is strongly supportive of the People’s Steeple.

We hope this inspiring project will help engage and enthuse Christchurch people with recovery of the cathedral, and help get the cathedral restoration programme underway.

Warm regards

Mark Belton
Co-Chair, Restore Christchurch Cathedral

Mark Belton
Managing Director
Permanent Forests NZ Limited
PO Box 34, Lyttelton 8841, New Zealand

See attached reports by Marcus Brandt, Andy Buchanan, and the TFG.
● TFG People’s Steeple Project approach notes-10-2-16
● Steeple 16-8-12
● M Belton report on Timber Framers Guild conf and People’s Steeple 23-9-16
● Engineering the People’s Steeple v9

The People’s Steeple | Whare Films Published on Feb 23, 2017

The People’s Steeple
Rebuilding the Bell Tower at Christchurch Cathedral
Marcus Brandt: An Introduction

For the last thirty years or so, I’ve been restoring historic stone and timber buildings, mostly in Southeastern Pennsylvania. I’m a working master carpenter and stone mason. Most of the historic buildings I am called to work on are 150 to 300 years old. Solid and well crafted, these old buildings tend to age well, but neglect and damage can take a toll. Much of my effort is spent in repairing and strengthening the timber frames of barns, bridges, houses, gristmills and churches. I’ve had several commissions to build new structures in the old style. I have organized and led many barn raisings, in which hundreds of volunteers gather to raise a barn’s frame in a day. A good crew will have the sides and roof on too.
Straightening, plumbing and repairing damaged stone walls is often called for. It is not uncommon to straighten a wall 10 meters high that is out of plumb by 400 or 500 mm. Having studied and worked with several Scots masons, I’m a strong believer in lime based mortars and good masonry practice. The interface between stone and timber is of particular interest to me.
Since 1989, I’ve been a professional member of the Timber Framers Guild (TFG) and a member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group (TTRAG). That part of the Guild focuses on understanding the past practice of the craft with a view that the past might help inform future practice. I have advised many historical and preservation societies and sat on many review boards.
As a result of my participation in Guild efforts and projects, I was invited to go to both Scotland and China to investigate “lost” technologies for the Public Broadcast Service series NOVA. We built working siege weapons in Scotland and in China we built a bridge design that hadn’t been built since the Mongol invasion.
I teach Traditional building skills at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. I’m particularly interested in ways that the pre-industrial past practice can inform building in the greener, sustainable post-industrial world of the future.
I serve as a sailor, boson and ship’s carpenter aboard the tall ship Gazela (www.Gazela.org). That experience has taught me much about rigging and raising heavy loads in confined spaces. It’s taught me about erecting tall, secure, flexible, stable structures that get tossed about and shaken mercilessly. A sea captain in her own right, my wife serves as First Mate aboard Gazela. She out-ranks me, and helps keep me humble.
Since 22 February, I have been working as much as possible to develop a method to rebuild the Bell tower at Christchurch. With the help of friends and students, and the forbearance of my wife, I developed a plan that is beautiful, solid, strong, flexible, earthquake resistant, buildable, durable, and familiar. But more than anything, I want to use the rebuilding of the steeple as a vehicle for rebuilding and strengthening the community. And, once built, serve as an outward witness to the inward love we have for each other as fellow humans.
I look forward to doing this project with the able help of my best friends in the world…many of whom I haven’t yet met.

█ More information about the People’s Steeple Project and participants at http://thepeoplessteeple.org/

Related Posts and Comments:
23.12.15 Christ Church Cathedral: practical news from govt mediator…
14.7.12 Rival newspaper on historic heritage #cathedral
2.3.12 Christ Church, Cathedral Square

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: Christchurch Cathedral – (from top) colour render by whatifdunedin [photo source: Country Farm Garden Photos at cfgphoto.com]; black white render by whatifdunedin [photo source: Tony H Photography at tonyhphotography.co.nz]; colour photo of steeple detail [mygola.com]; cathedral with chalice by Sisson Photography [via photoshelter.com]; black white photo by Mudbird Ceramics [mudbirdceramics.blogspot.co.nz]; colour photo by Cindy taken on 5 Aug 2003 [via staticflickr.com]

ODT feature : Streets of gold #Dunedin

In case you missed the ODT four-part series on Dunedin’s residential heritage in late December….. here it is, via Dave Cannan’s The Wash (Facebook).

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█ The four parts, abridged for quick reference and linked here below, had an excellent (research) information follow-up by Kim Dungey.

Some very approximate dates have been added care of Quality Value (QV), these are based on (limited) property records held by councils; as well as year dates for historical architects, where known.

Streets of Gold, a Summer Times series celebrating Dunedin’s rich architectural heritage. In collaboration with Heritage New Zealand researchers Heather Bauchop and Susan Irvine, with additional research by David Murray, archivist, Hocken Collections; and Alison Breese, archivist, Dunedin City Council.

### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: High St
High Street has an association with the medical profession dating back to the 1880s, when the Mornington cable car started running and some impressive new houses were built along its route.

CAVENDISH CHAMBERS, 211 High St.
The company behind the venture, Medical Buildings Ltd, was incorporated on March 1, 1926, and the shareholders all took professional rooms in the new property. The building was completed in 1927. Architect: Eric Miller (1896-1948).

236 HIGH ST
This prominent residence (QV: c.1900?) with a turret and projecting windows was designed in 1888 for Scottish-born Dr Frank Ogston. Ogston gained his medical degree in Aberdeen and emigrated to Dunedin in 1886 to take up a position as a lecturer in medical jurisprudence and hygiene at the University of Otago. Architect: Henry Hardy (1830-1908), and builder-developer.

238 HIGH ST
An Arts and Crafts-style design, the house (QV: c.1909?) is finished in roughcast with brick exposed on the ground floor sills. It was built for Dr D.E. Williams and his family as a private residence and doctor’s surgery and was home to the Williams family until the 1960s. Architect: Basil Hooper (1876-1960).

296 HIGH ST
Built in 1904, the Chalet Hospital (a private facility) was described as being “finished in coloured and tuck-pointed brickwork … the whole of the relief and ornament is carried out in bold cornices over the windows”. Architect: John Louis Salmond (1868-1950).

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: York Pl
York Place features two large homes once owned by members of the Speight family.

LARBERT VILLA – 371 York Pl
It is unclear exactly when the villa was built. Coppersmith Alexander Burt, of A and T Burt, married Janet Crawford in 1866 (they had a family of six sons and three daughters) and the couple were living in York Pl by July 1868 when Janet gave birth to a son at the house.

FORMER SPEIGHT RESIDENCE – 362 York Pl
Built for Jessie and Charles Speight after their marriage in 1898, the residence appears in the Dunedin City Council rates records in the 1899-1900 year. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

HAEATA – 273 York Pl
The residence of Charles and Jessie Speight from the time it was built in 1915, it remained in the Speight family until 1960. Bearing a strong resemblance to the Theomin family’s Olveston (built 1907, designed by Sir Ernest George). Architect: John Brown (1875-1923), a neighbour.

MRS TURNBULL’S GROCERY STORE – 324 York Pl
Known more than a century ago as Mrs Turnbull’s Grocery Store, this unusual wedge-shaped building began life as a home, stables and shop built for John and Janet Turnbull in 1875. In January 1875 tenders were invited for a two-storey dwelling and shop to be constructed of wood. Architect and Surveyor: E.J. Sanders [aka Saunders].

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Wed, 28 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Highgate
Highgate has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

RENFREW HOUSE – 111 Highgate
Thought to have originated as a single-storey bluestone house with a central front door and double hung windows on each side. A second storey was later added. The exterior walls were built of double stone – more than 70cm thick – and the interior walls of double brick. With its wrought iron lacework, it has been described as one of the “finest examples of classic Victorian architecture in Dunedin”. Home of businessman Andrew McFarlane (1842-1904) and his wife Jane Wilson (1847-1920). By the 1890s, the family referred to their home as “Renfrew House”. Architect: credited to Nathaniel Wales (1832-1903), a neighbour.
 
KAWARAU – 204 Highgate
Designed in 1900 for dredging tycoon Alexander McGeorge, this grand residence reflects the fortunes made in Otago’s gold dredging boom of the late 1890s and early 20th century. Trained at Dunedin firm Cossens and Black, McGeorge (1868-1953) held a variety of significant engineering posts. The two-storeyed house is built of brick, has a slate roof, ornate decorative detailing, and features Tudor influences in the half timbering and veranda details. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

FORMER HUXTABLE RESIDENCE – 233 Highgate
This 1907 brick and tile residence designed for Anna and Alexander Huxtable, is a beautifully detailed example of an Edwardian villa, one with historic and architectural significance. Anna Huxtable was granted the land in 1907; a survey on May 15, 1907, indicates the foundations for the new dwelling were already in place at that date. (QV: c.1910?). Alexander Murray Huxtable described himself as both a commercial agent and patent medicine manufacturer. Architect: Edward Walden (1870-1944).

MELROSE – 384 Highgate
Likely designed for lawyer Arthur Nation (1852-1927) around 1876. In October that year, tenders were called for the construction of a “brick cottage” in the suburb of Melrose (a private subdivision in what is now known as Roslyn). However, Nation appears to have built more than a cottage: when his property was offered for sale in 1879 it was described as “a substantially-built and well-finished brick house”, its original features including hand-painted ceilings, timber joinery and stained glass. Architect: credited to John McGregor (1838-1911), and harbour engineer.

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Thu, 29 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Royal Tce
Royal Terrace has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

DAISY BANK – 12 Royal Tce
Associated with the prominent Hudson family. An Italianate, two-storeyed symmetrical house with a large basement, “Daisy Bank” was built of concrete and wood, circa 1897. Architect: J.A. Burnside (1856-1920).

LINDEN – 22 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s, a two-storied, two-bay Victorian residence of more than 15 rooms, with an exterior comprising plastered triple brick with quoins, foundations of Leith Valley andesite and a slate roof. Associated with the prominent Isaacs and Hudson families. Architect: Mason and Wales (likely Nathaniel Wales).

CLAVERTON – 30 Royal Tce
Associated with prominent local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary and one of New Zealand’s most prominent artistic families, the Hodgkins. Claverton was most likely built in 1877 by local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary (1840-95). Architect: likely Maxwell Bury (1825-1912).

ALYTH – 34 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s by prominent businessman, community leader and one-time Dunedin mayor Keith Ramsay (1844-1906). Named Alyth after Ramsay’s birth place, the house was completed, at the latest, by March 1875. Architect: Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902).

Read more + Photos

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It doesn’t have to be a mansion located on the high streets….

Crabapple Cottage, Otago Peninsula [thecuriouskiwi.co.nz]

Lastly, a THOROUGHLY USEFUL guide for those unfamiliar with historic heritage archives, technical sources and search methods.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Dec 2016
What is your house hiding?
By Kim Dungey
Enjoyed this week’s Streets of Gold series, in which we have profiled various Dunedin houses of historic significance? Fancy playing detective and tracing the history of your home? … In recent years, Heritage New Zealand has run “how to research your home” workshops in Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru and Central Otago. The popular seminars have drawn together the sources it uses every day to tell the story of historic places. Archivists say some people want to restore their homes to their original states, are curious about former owners or simply want to know the age of their houses for insurance purposes. Others require archaeological assessments of pre-1901 properties or have reported seeing ghosts in their homes and wanted to work out who they might be. Interested homeowners have a wealth of resources at their fingertips….
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Getaways —Dezeen 2016

A brief selection of short and long stay architectural showpieces.

OPA finds backer for cliffside residence sunken into Lebanese mountain
Jessica Mairs | 5 May 2016 ● Dezeen
Open Platform for Architecture (OPA) is moving forward with plans to build a subterranean residence that will slice into a mountain near Beirut and feature a glass swimming pool for a roof. OPA originally released plans for Casa Brutale in July 2015, with no site, client or budget to build it. But the viral success of the renderings has now brought forward a backer with a plot of land on Faqra mountain near Beirut and a budget of $2.5 million (£1.7 million).

The project is expected to break ground this summer and its owner will be Alex Demirdjian, the chief executive of Lebanese real estate agent Demco Properties. The buried dwelling will be bracketed by three board-marked concrete slabs, while a fourth glazed wall will allow views of the valley to take centre stage. A glass-bottomed pool will allow light to shine into the earth-encased living spaces.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/05/casa-brutale-opa-sunken-cliffside-residence-lebanese-mountain-swimming-pool/

Renderings: Terpsichori Latsi (LOOM Design)

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Tiny camping pods by Andrea Zittel serve as a creative refuge in the California desert
Jenna McKnight | 19 August 2016 ● Dezeen
Artists and writers wanting to play out a “desert fantasy” can rent a tiny sleeping pod at a remote campsite in southern California, which looks like a scene from a sci-fi film. Called the Wagon Station Encampment, the experimental project was conceived by US artist Andrea Zittel, who is known for her explorations into self-sufficient and sustainable living systems. The site consists of 10 sleeping pods, called wagon stations, as well as a communal outdoor kitchen, open-air showers and composting toilets. “It’s sort of a cross between a retreat and a residency and a normal campground,” said Zittel. The encampment – described as having a sci-fi aesthetic – is located on a 35-acre (14-hectare) site near Joshua Tree National Park, which is dotted with unusual rock formations rising up from a vast expanse of desert.

The metal-and-wood shelters are meant to evoke the classic family station wagons often found in suburbia, along with the covered, horse-drawn wagons that were common in old Wild West. While the pods do not have wheels, they can be easily collapsed, moved and reassembled. Guests enter their pod by unlocking and lifting up the front panel, which can be propped up and left open. The panel has a transparent strip that enables occupants to view the surrounding landscape and sky while lying on their bed. Inside, the enclosure contains a mattress, clothing hooks and a small door for ventilation. Artists can bring their own decor, such as rugs and paintings, to personalise the pod. The campsite is part of a larger property known as A-Z West, which was established in 2000. It contains Zittel’s primary residence, a studio and shop facility and a collection of shipping containers converted into apartments. Other camp shelters include the recently unveiled Autonomous Tent, which is a sculptural enclosure with a wooden porch, and portable micro cabins designed by Harvard students for stressed-out city dwellers.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/08/19/wagon-station-encampment-andrea-zittel-tiny-camping-pods-creative-refuge-california-desert/

Photography: Lance Brewer

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Eight concrete boxes form a “moveable” vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard
James Brillon | 20 August 2016 ● Dezeen
A cluster of eight interconnected concrete volumes make up this Martha’s Vineyard residence, which is designed to be moved in the event of site erosion. The single-family East House was created by Canadian architect Peter Rose in the town of Chilmark. Serious concerns about the site’s ability to support the 4,000 square foot (372 sq m) residence led the architects to devise a system that allegedly allows the house to be moved if necessary.

The home’s living spaces were designed as eight individual cast-in-place concrete boxes. They are connected via interstitial corridors, which were built using lightweight timber construction. According to the architects, this makes them structurally independent from one another, which in turn allows them to be moved more easily. “The solution was to cast the floors in concrete, making each box a single structural unit that can be individually lifted and moved to a location far from the bluff in case of erosion.”
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/08/20/eight-concrete-boxes-form-a-moveable-vacation-home-on-marthas-vineyard/

Photography: Chuck Choi

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Luxury campsite in Antarctica offers tiny domed pods for sleeping and dining
Jenna McKnight | 31 August 2016 ● Dezeen
This remote “glamping” site in Antarctica features a series of igloo-like enclosures fitted with upscale decor like fur-covered chairs and bamboo headboards. White Desert – billed as the “only luxury camp in the interior of Antarctica” – consists of heated, spherical pods made of fibreglass. Six are designated for sleeping, with each designed to accommodate two guests. Additional pods house a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge and a library. The domed shelters rest atop wooden platforms and are secured to the ground with metal cables.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/08/31/white-desert-luxury-campsite-antarctica-tiny-domed-pods-extreme-glamping/

Photography courtesy of White Desert

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BIG stacks shipping containers to create floating student housing in Copenhagen harbour
Jessica Mairs | 22 September 2016 ● Dezeen
Shipping containers are stacked on a floating platform to create these buoyant student halls of residence designed by Bjarke Ingels’ firm (BIG) for Copenhagen harbour. The project named Urban Rigger aims to provide low-cost housing for students in the centre of the Copenhagen, docked in the harbour.

BIG’s scheme comprises nine shipping containers stacked and arranged on a floating base, to create 15 studio residences over two levels. The blocks are angled with their ends overlapping to frame a shared garden in the centre of the mobile platform – also intended to protect the housing from the threat of rising sea levels. The flat roofs of the three containers forming the upper floor each have a different function. One provides a terrace, another hosts solar panels and the final roof is covered in grass. Urban Rigger is the latest addition to a string of proposals considering shipping containers as a model for affordable housing. Copenhagen’s harbour area is currently undergoing significant redevelopment.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/09/22/big-bjarke-ingels-shipping-containers-floating-student-housing-urban-rigger-copenhagen/

Photography: Laurent de Carniere

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Baca Architects moors modular floating home on Chichester Canal
Eleanor Gibson | 23 October 2016 ● Dezeen
Baca Architects – the studio behind the UK’s first amphibious house – has completed a boxy floating home on Chichester Canal in southern England. The London-based architects developed the floating house as a prototype with British company Floating Homes. The replicable design named Chichester won an ideas competition seeking solutions to London’s housing crisis earlier this year.

Baca Architects referenced the design of canal boats when drawing up plans for the house, but increased the scale and included plenty of windows to create a more spacious and luxurious home on the water. The architects played with the traditional rectangular shape of house boats to create a split-level design. A white staircase leads from the lounge up to a terrace carved into the flat roof of the house and surrounded by glazed balustrades. Simple finishes like white-painted walls and pale floorboards keep the space light and open.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/10/23/chichester-model-canal-baca-architects-wooden-floating-home-uk/

Photography courtesy of Floating Homes Ltd

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Precarious Alpine cabin by OFIS offers shelter to Slovenian climbers
Jessica Mairs | 10 November 2016 ● Dezeen
This tiny aluminium-clad cabin by Slovenian studio OFIS Arhitekti cantilevers over the edge of a mountain on the Slovenian-Italian border. OFIS Arhitekti worked with local structural engineers CBD to develop the Kanin Winter Cabin, which is designed to resist extreme weather conditions on its exposed site on Mount Kanin. “This particular site was chosen because of its 360-degree views over Slovenia and Italy, and spectacular views to Triglav, Soca Valley and Adriatic sea,” said the studio.

This tiny 9.7-square-metre cabin has a narrow floor plan containing three shelf-like floors, and has dimensions of just 2.4 by 4.9 metres. It is made from a combination of cross-laminated timber, glass and aluminium panels. “The interior design dictates modesty, subordinate to the function, providing accommodation for up to nine mountaineers.”
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/11/10/cantilever-alpine-shelter-kanin-winter-cabin-ofis-architects-climbers-slovenia/

Photography: Janez Martincic

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Flat-packed cabin concept allows tiny houses to be assembled like IKEA furniture
James Brillon | 20 November 2016 ● Dezeen
A Vancouver-based startup’s conceptual design for flat-packed recreational cabins would allow users to build for themselves, making the wilderness more readily accessible. The Backcountry Hut Company is an offshoot of interdisciplinary design firm Leckie Studio. Its goal is to facilitate the process of building cabins for a variety of uses. The huts are provided in pieces that can be efficiently packed flat and assembled on site. Rather than being built by professional craftspeople, the cabins can be put together by a small group working together. The simple geometrical cabins encompass two floors. The ground level contains public areas that vary according to individual preferences. Sleeping quarters are located above, and are accessed using a ladder. The metal-clad huts are part of a larger trend towards building small, modular dwellings.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/11/20/backcountry-hut-company-leckie-studio-flat-packed-cabin-concept-assembled-like-ikea-furniture/

Images courtesy of Backcountry Hut Company

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Antarctic research centre to be towed inland to escape dangerous ice crack
Amy Frearson | 13 December 2016 ● Dezeen
The world’s first mobile research centre on the floating Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica is going to be moved to a new location for the first time, due to fears it could be trapped on an iceberg.

Photo: British Antarctic Survey

Photo: Hugh Broughton Architects

Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station has only been operational since 2013, but now needs to be towed 23 kilometres to a new location. This is because a chasm that had previously been dormant for approximately 35 years started to grow just after the station was installed, putting it at risk of separating from the ice shelf. The £25.8 million research station is built to withstand extreme winter weather. Made up of seven interlinking blue modules, the structure is raised on hydraulically elevated feet to stay above the many metres of expected snowfall.
These ski-like feet also make it possible to tow each of the modules over a prepared ice track. But the team did not expect to have to move the building less than five years after the facility opened.
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/12/13/halley-vi-antarctic-research-station-towed-inland-escape-dangerous-crack-brunt-ice-shelf/

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Report from the University Landscape Trenches : Financial shoring collapsing, trouble brewing

Received from Rhodes
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 at 9:14 p.m.

Saturday’s ODT had an interesting article about delays on the troubled University of Otago landscaping project. This article is the canary in the University construction goldmine, as there are other even much larger disputes brewing on current University projects that certainly will become a goldmine for the contractors, to the detriment of the University’s financial health.

Hoarding, University of Otago

Mr Mackay said the complications on the landscaping included “replacing old water, sewage and drainage pipes”. What he did not say is that this work was meant to have been done two summers ago, BEFORE the academic year, but due to the project management, it was not. However, this landscaping project is small beer, there are much bigger problems looming.

The University, in their biggest ever project, at the 11th hour, on the “advice” of a contractor, Fletcher Construction, who we understand did not even finally submit a bid, told the University they could save a few hundred thousand on the $100 million project by deleting the need for a cost control schedule…. that would have severely limited what the contractors could charge for changes and extra work. In a monumental display of incompetence, the University stopped production of the schedule – which was already underway and had to be part paid for anyway and put the drawings and specifications out to tender without a schedule. If the drawings were 100% complete and the University wasn’t to change its mind that would be OK, but the Pope is more likely to preach at Canterbury Cathedral than this happening. Of course, the drawings are woefully incomplete, and the arguments and changes have started. Watch out for Someone from the University Property Services division, in about a year, to be in full dissembling mode about the delays, and how, “even though it’s six months late, it’s still on budget”. If that is the case, the budget has massive doses of incompetency cover built into it !

An additional problem that’s about to come home to roost in the University and Otago Polytechnic’s coffers is insistence, by University Property Services, on the use of “Early Contractor Involvement” (ECI). (Someone at University Property Services has never met a new construction euphemism he did not use or a project delay that he could not justify). Both the University and Polytech on recent large projects have engaged in tender processes where there is no fixed sum, because the documents are far from complete, and the current fashion du jour is to have “early contractor involvement” where the builders are paid to be involved in the design phase, to provide “constructability” expertise. Basically the builders make a submission to say what nice people they are, and advise percentage site overhead and profit margins they would build the project for. The rest of the cost, about 85-90%, is just guesswork. (“Provisional Sums”). This process allows the “tender evaluation team” (mainly the Architect and the University) to choose who they want, without regard to price, because the weighting for “non-price attributes” is a lot more than 50% of the total weighting.

On both the University commerce building project, just started by Naylor Love, and the Polytechnic Hostel project (also won by Naylor Love), this was the process. Both projects are around $20 million all up. Significantly, the architect on both projects was Mason & Wales. There were a number of other consultants in the design teams. The politest way to put the next point is that there appeared to be “confusion” about the proposed early contractor involvement process from the team. It was thought, inexplicably, that this wonderful new system of selecting builders without worrying about price meant not only did they get to choose ones with very high margins who wouldn’t cause problems when the inevitable design problems arose, some consultants also thought that they could charge full fees and offload all of the detailing onto the builder…. which of course did not happen. Builders, in the South Island anyway, do not employ armies of CAD operators who can document bespoke large projects. That is what designers are for…. In both cases, the successful Naylor Love bid was hundreds of thousands of dollars more expensive than lower bids. Also in the case of both bids, the University and the Polytech paid a premium of around $500-600,000 to have the “ECI/ constructability” experience of Naylor Love…. only to find that the advice received was NOT what was expected…. the Polytech project has been now costed by Naylor Love and is $1.5-2.0 million over budget, and the “expert” constructability / ECI advice that the Polytech effectively paid $600,000 for is…. wait for it…. to make the building smaller. Hmmm, expensive and brief advice! Best not tell the Humanities students ! The other unsuccessful contractors may well feel aggrieved about how this process played out, as before they were even allowed to provide a proposal they had to prove their capability and experience to do the work, so in theory all tenderers were equally capable, and there was no logical reason for the favouritism to Naylor Love…. but were there other reasons ? There appears no meaningful financial oversight, the project teams seem a law unto themselves, and the suspicion is that both institutions’ funds are being spent in a very free and easy fashion.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
18.7.16 Misero-mercenary at U of O
1.7.16 No one wants to work for U of O
25.9.15 University calling Property Services
28.3.15 University of Otago landscaping
24.7.13 University: Leith flood protection scheme and landscaping
31.5.13 University of Otago development plans
27.5.13 Carisbrook and Leith flood protection
17.11.10 Leith Lindsay Flood Protection Scheme
17.5.10 Campus Master Plan
28.1.10 University of Otago Campus Master Plan

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

WHO says ‘heritage rules are too restrictive’ —What’s their agenda in the Heritage City

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS

St Joseph’s and the Dominican Priory, Smith St [cardcow.com]

‘A new roof for Dunedin’s Dominican Priory, considered one of New Zealand’s most important and at-risk historic buildings, is a big step closer following a $100,000 grant. [The] Dunedin Heritage Fund had committed the money from its 2016-17 budget. The 139-year old priory was built to house the city’s Dominican nuns and provide teaching space for girls. Despite its vast scale and elaborate construction – its floating concrete staircase and double-glazed music room were cutting edge designs in their day – the building received little maintenance over its working life.’ –Gerald Scanlan, Catholic Diocese of Dunedin (ODT)

19.2.16 ODT: Boost for restoration of priory (+ video)
12.5.16 ODT: DCC commits $100,000 to priory restoration
27.6.16 ODT: Priory future gets clean slate

*The Dunedin Heritage Fund is administered by representatives of Dunedin City Council and Heritage New Zealand.

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MORE GOOD NEWS

Dunedin Prison “big-picture project” [dunedinprisontrust.co.nz]

‘The Dunedin Prison Trust has raised about $500,000 to start the first stage of its development programme to return the [old prison] building to its original appearance. […] Last year, the trust lodged a planning application with the Dunedin City Council detailing about $250,000 of restorative work which would return the prison’s exterior to its original 1896 condition. The application included work on the building’s roof and walls, as well as seismic strengthening, work expected to cost another $250,000.’ (ODT)

24.8.16 ODT: Restoration begins on historic prison
2.9.16 ODT: Captive audience for prison project
17.9.16 ODT: Old prison roof being restored

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GOOD NEWS CONTINUES

Dunedin Courthouse [panoramio.com]

‘Refurbishing and strengthening Dunedin’s historic courthouse is expected to cost more than $18 million, according to a building consent approved by the Dunedin City Council. The consent includes detailed designs that council building services manager Neil McLeod says involve some of the most extensive earthquake-strengthening ever undertaken in the city. The plans also show the extent to which the Ministry of Justice plans on returning the building to its former glory.’ (ODT)

10.9.16 ODT: $18m to be spent on court upgrade
29.9.16 ODT: Courthouse restoration set to begin
30.9.16 ODT: Dunedin firm wins courthouse contract

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BAD NEWS

‘The Physio Pool is one of the largest warm water swimming pools in New Zealand and Dunedin’s only therapeutic swimming pool. The temperature is always kept around 35 degrees. We feature wheelchair accessibility, hoist and private changing rooms. The benefits of warm water exercise are tremendous and have an extremely positive impact on the quality of life for all ages. We are open to the public and offer a non-threatening environment for swimming, aqua jogging, individual exercise programmes, or warm water relaxation.’ —physiopool.org.nz

### ODT Online Sat, 1 Oct 2016
Pool heritage status opposed
By Vaughan Elder
The Southern District Health Board is fighting a proposal to classify  Dunedin’s already endangered physio pool site as a heritage building, saying it may have to be demolished as part of a hospital redevelopment. This comes as the Property Council and the University of Otago are set to argue at next week’s  Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan (2GP) hearings that proposed rules aimed at protecting the city’s heritage buildings are too restrictive.
Read more

█ Heritage New Zealand | Otago Therapeutic Pool List No. 7581
Historical information and Heritage significance at http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details?id=7581

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FURTHER BAD NEWS AND PILLOCKS

Criticism of the [second generation district] plan comes after praise in recent times for the council for its proactive approach towards saving the city’s heritage buildings.

### ODT Online Sun, 2 Oct 2016
Heritage rules deemed too restrictive
By Vaughan Elder
The Dunedin City Council’s proposed new heritage rules are too restrictive and property owners should have more freedom to demolish uneconomic heritage buildings, the Property Council says. This comes as Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan (2GP) commissioners are set to hear arguments next week about a new set of rules aimed at protecting the city’s heritage buildings. The University of Otago is also among submitters to have expressed concern about rules,  planner and policy adviser Murray Brass saying they had the potential to  reduce protection by making it more difficult to maintain and use heritage buildings.
A summary on the 2GP website said the changes included addressing the threat of “demolition by neglect” by making it easier to put old buildings to new uses and requiring resource consent for most changes to identified heritage buildings and “character-contributing” buildings within defined heritage precincts.
The new rules have prompted a strong response.
Read more

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FOR HISTORIC HERITAGE

Second Generation District Plan (2GP) – Heritage
Read all Heritage topic documents including reports, evidence and submissions to date at: https://2gp.dunedin.govt.nz/2gp/hearings-schedule/heritage.html

Documents
● Notice of Hearing
● Agenda
● Speaking Schedule – updated 29 September

Council Evidence
● Section 42A report
● Section 42A report addendum

DCC expert evidence
● Statement of evidence of Glen Hazelton [Policy planner – heritage]

█ Download: s42a Heritage Report with appendices (PDF, 5 MB)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Carisbrook turnstile building, Neville St | HNZ Category 1 historic place
[filmcameraworkshop.com]

Win! to DCC candidate Paul Pope #DunedinHospital

ODT 22.8.16 (page 6)

*overlay by whatifdunedin

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Posted by Stop Dunedin Hospital from being downgraded
Monday, 22 August 2016

[screenshot]

Comments on Monday, 22 August 2016 at 7:12 p.m.
[screenshot – click to enlarge]

█ For more, enter the terms *hospital*, *sdhb* and *food* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Misero-mercenary at U of O

Just in, Rhodes says:

Naylor Love stiffed by U of O.
$100M Dental School to be awarded to Leighs Construction.

But…
Naylor Love’s consolation prize is the new $18M Otago Polytechnic Hall of Residence, where they were significantly more expensive than other local rival Amalgamated Builders, but scored much higher on non-price attributes, which gave them top ranking.

Amalgamated Builders, clearly not flavour of the month at either Polytech or University —it’s understood the same thing occurred at the recent Commerce Building Upgrade.

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Related Post and Comments:
1.7.16 No one wants to work for U of O
31.5.13 University of Otago development plans

For more enter the term *university*, *campus master plan*, *property services*, *leith flood protection* or *landscaping* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Infrastructure ‘open to facile misinterpretation’…. or local ignore

Academic Paper/Article via Academia.edu
December 24, 2015

Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruin, Retrofit and Risk
Cymene Howe – Rice University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
Corresponding Author

Co-Authors: Cymene Howe, Jessica Lockrem, Hannah Appel, Edward Hackett, Dominic Boyer, Randal Hall, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Albert Pope, Akhil Gupta, Elizabeth Rodwell, Andrea Ballestero, Trevor Durbin, Farès el-Dahdah, Elizabeth Long, and Cyrus Mody

ABSTRACT
In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and symbolic terms, is more apparent than actual. Finally, a third paradox of infrastructure, risk, demonstrates that while a key purpose of infrastructure is to mitigate risk, it also involves new risks as it comes to fruition. The article concludes with a series of suggestions and provocations to view the study of infrastructure in more contingent and paradoxical forms.

Introduction
Breakdowns and blackouts, pipeline politics, and new demands upon energy and resources have surfaced infrastructure in surprising ways, igniting conversation about social and material arrangements that are often left submerged, invisible, and assumed. In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. While the popular imagination might recognize infrastructure as the mundane mechanisms within, beneath, and supporting the maintenance of quotidian life, many scholars have foregrounded the agency, performativity, and dynamism of infrastructure.

Infrastructure is not inert but rather infused with social meanings and reflective of larger priorities and attentions. To further engage these novel lines of inquiry, a group of scholars gathered at Rice University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences for an extended roundtable discussion. We came from a variety of academic institutions and positions in the academy (ranging from senior scholars to PhD candidates), and our group reflected a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds (American studies, anthropology, architecture, history, science and technology studies, and sociology). Our objective was to break down some of the scaffolding that upholds disciplinary boundaries. To embrace a starkly infrastructural metaphor, we were interested in “bridgework”, not just to move from point A to point B, but to hold us in suspension for a time so that we might inspect the mechanisms that drive our intellectual work and scholarship.

Infrastructure, which epitomizes the conjunction of material forms, expertise, social priorities, cultural expectations, aesthetics, and economic investments, seemed to us to be the ideal rubric through which to enrich our thinking, as well as a social object that necessitates a multidisciplinary approach. A collaborative conversation would help us to disentangle theories, concepts, and methods from their usual paradigms, permitting them to “recombine” in novel ways (Hackett and Parker 2014, 12). Our conversation was animated, in part, by other “turns” in the humanities and social sciences, including new materialisms, posthumanisms, and ontological approaches. Walking through the dynamic scholarship on infrastructure that is being published in the human sciences, we were struck with the definitional capacity of the term itself. Infrastructure is material (roads, pipes, sewers, and grids); it is social (institutions, economic systems, and media forms); and it is philosophical (intellectual trajectories: dreamt up by human ingenuity and nailed down in concrete forms).

Infrastructure has a capaciousness and scope that makes it both an infinitely useful concept and a concept that is open to facile misinterpretation or to being encumbered by overuse.

Our purpose was not to produce yet another definition of infrastructure (although at the end of this essay we do offer a few potential classifications). Instead we gave our attention to questions such as “What is generative about thinking with and through infrastructures at this historical juncture?” And “How can the multiple and diverse understandings of infrastructure across the human sciences mutually inform and enhance one another?” Simply put, we wanted to unravel “why now?” and “where do we go from here?” Our hope was to work toward “explication” (Latour 1993; Sloterdijk 2009), knowing that infrastructure has moved from the background to the foreground, while remaining intent on questioning why that is so. This collective essay gathers the themes and insights that echoed throughour conversation. These issues were resonant points of return because they revealed the relational and ambiguous elements of infrastructure to produce contradictions and unevenly felt consequences in the lives and places they contact. We have codified these apparent paradoxes, broadly, into topical domains of ruins, retrofit, and risk.

To read this article and other academic papers subscribe to Academia.edu (Weekly Digest).

[floodofideas.org.au]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image (top): openspaceconsult.com – infrastructure development [tweaked by whatifdunedin]

Dezeen: W57 —West 57th Residential Building by BIG

Durst Fetner Residential commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan.

sltube7 Uploaded on Feb 10, 2011
Jacob Slevin Bjarke Ingels Is BIG in New York City with W57
(by Designer Pages)

GlessnerGroup Uploaded on Feb 15, 2011
W57 – West 57th Residential Building [no audio]
W57 is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of intimacy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.
©Glessner Group, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Construction is due for completion in 2016.

█ Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group

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### dezeen.com Tue, 8 Feb 2011 at 12:41 pm
West 57th by BIG
By Catherine Warmann
Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. “BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River. West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construction and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.”

“New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city. The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianisation of Broadway and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city. With West 57th we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric – into the centre of a city block,” Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.

“The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living.”
Read more + Images

[view full screen]

BIG from DRKHRSE (posted 4 months ago)
An aerial view of Bjarke Ingel’s newest building in NYC, at W57

█ Drone Photography: Darkhorse

### dezeen.com Wed, 16 Sept 2015 at 11:10 am
Drone video shows progress on New York “courtscraper” by BIG
By Jenna McKnight
Communications firm Darkhorse has used a camera mounted to a drone to capture footage of Via 57 West, the residential building by Bjarke Ingels Group that is now rising in New York. Construction is underway on the tetrahedron-shaped building, which is located on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The design is pulled up at one corner, to create a 467-foot-tall (142-metre) structure. It topped out several months ago, with the addition of the final structural beam, and work is now continuing on the building’s facades. The unofficial movie by Darkhorse shows images of Via’s sloped exterior, which is punctuated with south-facing terraces that look toward the Hudson River.

Encompassing 861,00 square feet (80,000 square metres), the building will contain 709 residential units and a large central courtyard. The project also calls for retail space totalling 45,000 square feet (4,180 square metres).

“We call it a courtscraper,” Ingels told Dezeen in an interview last year. “It’s a combination of a skyscraper and a courtyard building. One side is the height of a handrail and the other side is the height of a high-rise.”

The project is being constructed in an area with a mix of building types. W57 is sandwiched between a power plant, a sanitation garage and a highway. The building’s amenities will include a pool, fitness centre, basketball court, golf simulator, library and screening room. Residents will also be able to reserve “living rooms” for entertaining that feature fireplaces, chef’s kitchens, dining rooms and large terraces.
Read more + Images

█ Other residential projects now underway in New York include 152 Elizabeth Street by Tadao Ando in the Nolita neighbourhood, 520 West 28th Street by Zaha Hadid near the High Line, and a luxury condo building by Alvaro Siza that is slated to rise near BIG’s Via 57 West.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ELEMENTAL | UC Innovation Center

An open and eco-friendly university building.

Location: San Joa­quín Cam­pus | Uni­ver­si­dad Ca­tó­li­ca de Chi­le | San­tia­go, Chi­le
Client: Grupo Angelini | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Category Winner: Architecture
Designs of the Year 2015, Design Museum, London

Architects: ELEMENTAL (Chile)

“Santiago’s climate requires to change the conventional approach to working space design. We substituted the contemporary typical glass skin, responsible for serious greenhouse effect in interiors, for a thermal mass on the perimeter that avoids undesired heat gains. On the other hand, innovation and knowledge creation requires increasing encounters among people, so openness is desired. We multiplied open air squares throughout the building’s entire height and proposed a permeable atrium core so that while circulating vertically, people could see what others are doing. This reversed placement of opaqueness and transparency is the way sustainability and human relationships informed the form.”

Construction Year: 2012-2014
Budget: USD 18 million

ELEMENTAL (Alejandro Aravena, Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó, Diego Torres) is a Do Tank founded in 2001, focusing on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation. A hallmark of the firm is a participatory design process in which the architects work closely with the public and end users. ELEMENTAL has built work in Chile, the United States, Mexico, China and Switzerland. After the 2010 earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile, ELEMENTAL was called to work on the reconstruction of the city of Constitución, where we had to integrate all the previous experiences. The approach we developed proved to be useful for other cases where city design was used to solve social and political conflicts. At the moment, we keep on expanding into new fields of action.

█ Website: http://www.elementalchile.cl/

Photography: Cristobal Palma, Felipe Diaz Contardo (www.fotoarq.com), Nina Vidic, Nico Saieh

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Social housing, Incremental housing, Half a good house instead of a small one…. Housing as investment

Kosovo Architecture Foundation Published on Oct 8, 2015
Prishtina Architecture Week 2015, Day 4, Alejandro Aravena
Principal of Alejandro Aravena Architects, established in 1994 and, since 2006, Executive Director of ELEMENTAL, a for profit company with social interest working in projects of infrastructure, transportation, public space and housing, partnering with Universidad Catolica de Chile and COPEC, Chilean Oil Company.

He has been member of the Pritzker Prize Jury since 2009. The laureates chosen during his presence in the Jury have been: Peter Zumthor (2009), SANAA Kazuyo Sejima (2010), Eduardo Souto de Moura (2011), Wang Shu (2012), Toyo Ito (2013) and Shigeru Ban (2014). He was named Honorary International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2009; member of the Board of the Cities Program of the London School of Economics, London, since 2011; Regional Advisory Board Member of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies;

Board Member of the Holcim Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland, since 2013; Foundational Member of the Chilean Society of Public Policies; Leader of the Helsinki Design Lab for SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund for the Government of Finland to design a national strategy towards carbon neutrality; and Board Member of Espacio Público, an independant chilean research center created in 2012. He was one of the 100 personalities contributing to the G+20 Rio Global Summit in June 2012, and was one of the speakers of TED Global 2014 in Rio.

Aravena was recently named as the Director of the 15th Architecture Exhibition of the Venezia Biennale.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ELEMENTAL | Participatory design, social modelling for housing

Dunedin mainstreet amenity upgrades #vibrancy #senseofplace

THE COUNCIL DOES ITS BIT | Facade revamp for George Street mall

Background (unrest)….

ODT 15.10.15 (page 14)

█ http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/368171/dcc-staff-member-quits-cv-queried

Then….

Civic Move 1 [building programme/ profile]

Civic Move 2 [street glam/ bringing people back ?!]

*Images: Douglas Field Dec 2015

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dezeen: Harbin Opera House, north east China | MAD

### dezeen.com 16 December 2015
MAD’s sinuous Harbin Opera House completes in north-east China
Beijing studio MAD has completed an opera house in the Chinese city of Harbin, featuring an undulating form that wraps two concert halls and a huge public plaza. The opera house is the first and largest building that MAD has designed as part of Harbin Cultural Island, a major new arts complex among the wetlands of the Songhua River. The 79,000-square-metre building features a three-petalled plan. One houses a grand theatre with space for up to 1,600 visitors, while the other is a more intimate performance space for an audience of 400. The building is designed to mirror the sinuous curves of the marsh landscape, with an exterior of smooth white aluminium panels and glass. These contrast with the rooftops, where a textured surface of ice-inspired glass pyramids allows light in from above. According to MAD, the building is designed “in response to the force and spirit of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate”. “We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural centre of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature,” said studio founder Ma Yansong.

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█ MAD Architects: http://www.i-mad.com/

MAD has designed several cultural buildings, including an artificial island of art caves, an icicle-shaped wood sculpture museum also in Harbin and Chicago’s proposed George Lucas Museum. Curved surfaces are a recurring theme through them all, picking up Ma’s ambition for a new style of architecture, referencing the landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings.

“We treat architecture as a landscape,” he told Dezeen in an interview last year.

The smooth surfaces of the opera house’s exterior continue inside.
Read more + Images

█ Photography by Adam Mørk and Hufton + Crow.

Related stories:
China Wood Sculpture Museum by MAD
MAD reveals concept design for George Lucas’ Chicago art museum
MAD Architects unveils slimmed-down design for Lucas Museum in Chicago

Related movie:
MAD wants to “invent a new typology” for high-rise architecture, says Ma Yansong
In this exclusive video interview filmed in Venice, Ma Yansong of Chinese architects MAD explains his concept for a “shan-shui city”, a high density urban development inspired by traditional Chinese paintings of mountain ranges.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Christ Church Cathedral: practical news from govt mediator Miriam Dean QC

Updated post
Sat, 26 Dec 2015 at 3:25 a.m.

### beehive.govt.nz 23 December, 2015
Gerry Brownlee Media Release
Report confirms ChristChurch Cathedral can be reinstated

Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee says the decision by the Anglican Church to progress investigations into reinstating the ChristChurch Cathedral will be greatly appreciated by the wider community.
The Church Property Trust, which owns the Anglican Cathedral in Cathedral Square, has received an independent report from a Government-appointed consultant, who has reviewed the engineering options for the iconic city building.
“All of the parties’ engineers agree that the reinstatement of the Cathedral would require a combination of repair, restoration and reconstruction,” Mr Brownlee says. “The issue then comes back to cost and that is something the Church Property Trust will need absolute certainty of before it can commit to any work going ahead.”
Mr Brownlee says CPT is keen to enter further discussions with the Government in regard to progressing towards a reinstatement plan for the ChristChurch Cathedral, and that will happen in the New Year.
“And that is why we need to gain certainty about the affordability of this project and be able to work through the options. The positive outcome here is that there are now options to work through and that CPT is willing to do so.”
Link

███ Report on facilitated discussions with engineers on engineering options for repair, restoration or replacement of ChristChurch Cathedral. (PDF, 11.22 MB)

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Photos: Don Scott – The Press

Most of the building is intact – the scaremongering re the safety and cost of a rebuild is just that.

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The Anglican Church has agreed to consider “reinstating” the Christ Church Cathedral at a press conference today.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 18:14, December 23 2015
The Press
Anglican Church to consider reinstating Christ Church Cathedral video
By Michael Wright
[…] A report by Government-appointed mediator Miriam Dean QC found the cathedral could be either reconstructed to be “indistinguishable” from its pre-quake self or replaced.
[…] Restoration campaigner Philip Burdon, co-chair of the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, said he was “delighted and relieved” to learn the cathedral could be repaired, and was certain the necessary funds could be raised. “It had been the argument of the church that the building was unrepairable. The question of whether restoration was possible or not has been answered – I think that will be a considerable relief to the community.”
Read more

Yes, the Bishop is dragging her heels but MONEY might change her mind. Watch the Press video for her public statement and body language.

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Earlier documents commissioned by Great Christchurch Building Trust (GCBT), documents received 10 July 2012 via Mark Belton at Restore Christchurch Cathedral:

█ Christchurch Cathedral Structural engineering Review Final 27June2012
(PDF, 94.8 KB)

█ Christchurch Cathedral MRO prelim sketches (F)
(PDF, 3.9 MB)

Related Posts and Comments:
14.7.12 Rival newspaper on historic heritage #cathedral
2.3.12 Christ Church, Cathedral Square

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street DECLARED

Received by direct copy from Lynne Robins
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 at 3:29 p.m.

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From: Lynne Robins
Sent: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 3:29 p.m.
To: Karilyn Canton
Cc: craig.borley@odt.co.nz
Subject: Update – Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street

Further to my emails on the Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from parts of Jetty Street, please note the following update.

Council met on Monday 14 December 2015 and gave consideration to the recommendations from the Jetty Street Hearings Committee. Council approved the proposed recommendation and has declared parts of Jetty Street to be a pedestrian mall as per the attached declaration.

The declaration was been made under section 336 of the Local Government Act 1974. Under that section 336, any person may appeal to the Environment Court by 14 January 2016 or such later date as the Environment Court may allow. The Council would not oppose any request to the Environment Court by an applicant for the appeal period to be extended until up to 1 February 2016, but that would be a decision for the Environment Court rather than the Council.

A copy of the declaration will be published in the Council’s ODT noticeboard.

Thanks

Lynne Robins
Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council

█ Download: Jetty Street -declaration

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█ TOPICAL But what has Large Retail got to say on DCC Planning decisions affecting Large Retail [zoning] ?! Watch this space.

Related Post and Comments:
4.6.15 Exchange makeover —or pumps and pipe renewals, um

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Uglies: Black-tie at 715 George

715 George St, corner Regent Rd, Dunedin

█ Clan Construction Commercial Ltd
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/4013678

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### ODT Online Thu, 10 Dec 2015
Student apartments going up
Construction has begun on six new student apartments at the corner of George St and Regent Rd, Dunedin. The 962sq m triangular-shaped site is owned by Straits International Ltd, and was the site of a service station for about 80 years. The Dunedin City Council has given resource consent for the company to construct four residential units in a two-storey building (block 1) and two residential units in a three-storey building (block 2), thereby creating 22 habitable rooms. Construction is expected to be completed next year.
ODT Link

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Comments at ODT Online:

Student apartments
Submitted by Barnaby on Thu, 10/12/2015 – 6:35pm.

No! This was not a service station site for 80 years. There was a beautiful two-storey substantial brick heritage house on this site until about the 1970s. This is just another step in the incremental loss of North End heritage. This shows very poor planning from DCC, making this part of town, and the main street in this case, an ever expanding precinct of badly designed cheaply built high density housing. These will add to the stock of other similar structures forming “North Dunedin’s slums of the future”. Ratepayers’ will probably end up funding the future purchase of such cheap accomodation to mitigate associated social problems and the appalling visual amenity. Very poor city planning indeed.

Habitable room disasters
Submitted by ej kerr on Fri, 11/12/2015 – 12:43pm.

Prominent George St corner sites are being trashed by the banal. More habitable rooms – No emphasis on good contemporary design, no flair.
This one’s built right to the footpath on the main street, with little modulation and no hint of garden or vertical planting possible, except something to the corner part-screened by the witless bus shelter shoved on its concrete pad.
Given the rich inheritance, where has Dunedin street architecture gone? Where are the design professions? Why so much visual erosion? Where is the NZ Institute of Architects? Why no City Architect Office and independent Urban Design Panel to uphold design values for Dunedin residents and ratepayers?
Ugh! DCC planning fail. DCC urban design fail. DCC district plan fail. When will DCC grow up – to promote sympathetic edgy contemporary architecture and design for major city axials, at the very least. A step up from turning Dunedin into bog city with tawdry gateway approaches.

Related Posts and Comments:
[distasteful]
6.1.14 George Street: Two new uglies (thanks DCC, no City Architect…)

[sensitive]
9.1.14 Facadism: 3%, 10%, 50%, 75%, 99.9% (how much is enough) | University of Otago warps Castle Street

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: misted lettered tweaked by whatifdunedin

Dunedin Courthouse —Cabinet backs #restoration for courts use

A considerable weight lifted….

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:44, December 7 2015
Dunedin’s historic courthouse to be saved
Dunedin’s historic courthouse will be strengthened and restored at a cost of $15 million […] Strengthening work was expected to take two years, and the city’s temporary court in High St would continue to be used in the interim. It was hoped a main contractor would be appointed later in 2016, following a tendering process, [Ms] Adams said.
Read more

****

“The Dunedin courthouse is one of New Zealand’s most notable historic buildings and Cabinet’s decision reflects its significance, both as a part of the city’s rich cultural heritage and its importance to the region’s legal fraternity.” –Minister Amy Adams

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Dec 2015
Full restoration for Dunedin courthouse
By Craig Borley
Dunedin’s historic courthouse will be saved, strengthened, restored and have all its court service returned to it. The decision was made in today’s final Cabinet meeting of the year. Justice and Courts Minister Amy Adams announced the outcome just after 4pm. […] The decision means a “more than $15 million” overhaul of the Stuart St complex, bringing it up to between 60% and 70% of new building standard, as well as “provision the buildings to operate as modern court facilities”.
Read more

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Full Statement —Minister

Amy Adams

7 December, 2015

Dunedin’s historic courthouse to be restored

Courts Minister Amy Adams today announced that Cabinet has agreed to the strengthening and restoration of Dunedin’s historic courthouse.

“The Dunedin courthouse is one of New Zealand’s most notable historic buildings and Cabinet’s decision reflects its significance, both as a part of the city’s rich cultural heritage and its importance to the region’s legal fraternity,” Ms Adams says.

“From the beginning, I’ve maintained that it’s been my intention, expectation and desire to see court services returned to Dunedin’s historic courthouse and this decision delivers on that commitment.”

The project includes earthquake strengthening and restoration, as well as the cost of provision the buildings to operate as modern court facilities. The project is estimated to cost more than $15 million and this will include seeing the building strengthened to between 60 and 70 per cent of the National Building Standard.

“The strengthening project is anticipated to take two years to complete and the Ministry of Justice will continue to deliver quality services from the temporary court in High St in the interim,” Ms Adams says.

Ministry of Justice will call for tenders in the first half of next year and it was hoped a main contractor would be appointed later in 2016.

Ms Adams says the costings in the business case had been comprehensively investigated and peer reviewed by a number of independent specialist engineers, and costed by quantity surveyors, before being subjected to a robust review by The Treasury.

“The investigations showed that as a category one heritage building, strengthening the court house is a complex project and requires a significant capital investment.

“I acknowledge the deep support locals have shown for the historic courthouse throughout this process.”

The facility in Stuart St was closed in 2011 after engineers found that parts of the building fell well short of the minimum 34 percent rating required under the National Building Standard. A temporary facility has been established at High St to ensure court services could continue to be delivered to the people of Dunedin and Otago in the interim.

With Cabinet’s decision, managing the restoration process now becomes an operational matter for the Ministry of Justice.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/dunedin%E2%80%99s-historic-courthouse-be-restored

Related Posts and Comments:
22.9.125 Dunedin Law Courts | ODT editorial
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (top) Justice, Dunedin Law Courts (detail) by Elizabeth Kerr; radionz.co.nz – Amy Adams, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Te Ara I Whiti – light path #sharedway Auckland

Elevated illuminated space is exciting but how long until the shine wears off – this bad taste won’t even make it to Kitsch.

“This is a great day for Auckland’s inner city cycling network. The cycleway is a new and exciting urban space, creating a city centre where people feel safer and confident to ride a bike.” –Minister Simon Bridges

Comment #13 by David Bridewell  (2 days ago)
I think the cycle – and I trust walkway – is a good idea. But whoever chose that vile colour should be hauled into the centre of Aotea square and mercilessly flogged.

### nbr.co.nz Thu, 3 Dec 2015
‘Magenta Adventure’ cycleway opens in Auckland
By Emerson Howitt
Auckland cyclists are in the pink with today’s launch of the city’s latest piece of cycle-friendly infrastructure. The $18 million magenta coloured Light Path cycleway – already dubbed “Magenta Adventure” – was opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony presided by Transport Minister Simon Bridges, followed by schoolchildren cycling along the re-vamped Nelson St motorway off-ramp. […] The off-ramp was closed in 2005 after an upgrade to the central motorway junction left it surplus to requirements. […] The Light Path features interactive lighting along one side that will illuminate the structure at night.
Read more + 34 comments

iion Published on Dec 3, 2015
Te Ara I Whiti – The Light Path #LightPathAKL
@BikeAKL celebrated the opening of #LightPathAKL with hundreds of cyclists taking to the newly opened cycleway. We went along to see their reactions and join in the festivities. Interactive Light Installation by iion http://iion.co.nz

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Light Path Canada St Bridge [Patrick Reynolds]

### transportblog.co.nz Thu, 3 Dec 2015
Te Ara I Whiti – the lightpath
By Matt L
Auckland’s newest and certainly it’s most colourful cycleway (so far) was officially opened today by Transport Minister Simon Bridges. And I must say, Simon gave a fantastic speech showing he gets it, talking up the environmental, health, congestion and economic benefits of investing in cycling – this view was reinforced in discussion with him later. […] The new bridge connecting Canada St to the old offramp has been given the name of Te Ara I Whiti or the lightpath and combined is a fantastic addition to Auckland. […] One of the most surprising things about the project is just how little time it has taken from inception to delivery.
Read more

█ Video via TVNZ On Demand
Better Together: The Nelson Street Cycleway (4:51)
Get the inside track on the merging of the creative ideas of carver Katz Maihi and landscape architects and urban designers Monk Mackenzie + Land Lab, that have helped shape Auckland’s ambitious new cycleway design.
Link: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/ondemand/shows/m/microsoft-better-together/s1/e3.html

[screenshots]

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### NZ Herald Online 2:14 PM Saturday Dec 5, 2015
Pedal to the new metal
By Catherine Smith
I don’t usually claim to have much in common with engineers – putting things together is not my strong suit. But on Tuesday, when I donned a fluoro vest and rode the newest piece of Auckland’s cycling infrastructure with project manager Stephen Cummins of GHD, I couldn’t get enough of the geeky details of the shared pathway, formerly known as the old Nelson St off-ramp.

It is barely a year since the Lightpath Te Ara I Whiti (it got a fancy pants name at Thursday’s opening), first got the nod. New York’s glamour former tsar of transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan, was in town to talk up how she transformed the Big Apple’s car-clogged streets to plazas given over to people and bikes. She was less than flattering about Auckland’s un-connected bits of cycle paths. The “three Ls” who shape Auckland – mayor Len Brown, design head Ludo Campbell-Reid and chair of Auckland Transport Lester Levy – keen to impress Sadik-Khan, fell over themselves to promise Barbara Cuthbert of Bike Auckland in front of an audience of over 1500 city-lovers that they would convert the abandoned motorway into a connector between the aging Northwestern cycleway, the new Grafton Gully path and the rest of the city.

The result is extraordinary. This bridge, complete with art works of pulsing lights, pohutukawa trees and a stunning perspective of the city’s favourite bits is no dull bit of infrastructure. Cummins, possibly punch-drunk from lack of sleep, reckons that a project of this complexity would typically take a minimum of two years, but every one of the suppliers was so excited by this build that they pulled out all the stops to whittle that time to eight months. Despite reporting to many “parents” (this is an NZ Transport Agency project as the stretch of road is part of the national motorway), the design team was tight and fast-moving: GHD was lead designer, with architects Monk Mackenzie and engineers from the Agency.

Early thoughts were to plunk something clunky and temporary between the back of K Rd and the old off-ramp. Fortunately, saner heads (and money from minister Simon Bridges’ urban cycleways programme) funded a much better option. Already it’s been named in the World Architectural Festival, design mags are raving.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

blue green [transportblog.co.nz]

*Images: (top of page) transportblog.co.nz – cyclists by Patrick Reynolds, pictured at right; aucklandcouncil.govt.nz – Light Path soaring-cycling-sensation

Dunedin Hospital #despair

Initially, it was hoped the $11 million upgrade would not get bogged down in a drawn-out approval process.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Oct 2015
ICU upgrade approval not before March
By Eileen Goodwin
Approval for the long-awaited Dunedin Hospital intensive care unit upgrade has been pushed back to March at the earliest, it has been confirmed. […] The upgrade was considered urgent last year, when the unit lost its accreditation to train specialists, and it was initially hoped building work would start by mid-2015 or sooner.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.15 Talk of replacing Southern District Health Board with commissioner
1.5.14 Dunedin Hospital buildings SORRY STATE
25.2.15 South Link Health, hmm that name….
6.8.14 Otago Therapeutic Pool at Dunedin Hospital
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends
10.11.10 Neurosurgery STAYS @Dunedin
6.8.10 SERIOUSLY

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: clker.com – red cross Joshua Dwire 03-svg-med; text overlay (help) by whatifdunedin

Dunedin Heritage Fund: Latest funding round | recipient building projects

### ODT Online Tue, 20 Oct 2015
Heritage fund contributes to renaissance
By Craig Borley
Another collection of old Dunedin buildings is to get a council cash injection as the city continues its renaissance. The 10 buildings received a combined $113,500 at this month’s meeting of the Dunedin City Council’s heritage fund committee.
Read more + Images

The grants
• Kelsey Yaralla Kindergarten, Trent Ave, North Dunedin: $5000 (earthquake strengthening)
• Golden Leaf International, 16 Manse St: $10,000 (earthquake strengthening)
• Empire Hotel, 395 Princes St: $5500 (earthquake strengthening report, prior to facade restoration)
• Gresham Hotel, 42 Queens Gardens: $20,000 (exterior restoration)
• Former stables, 218 Crawford St – $20,000 (reuse)
• Stafford House, 2 Stafford St – $5000 (fire upgrade)
• Loan and Mercantile Building, 33 Thomas Burns St – $20,000 (facade cleaning and restoration)
• Married quarters, Quarantine Island: $3000 (strengthening)
• Glenfalloch: $5000 (conservation plan update)
• Carpet Court, 115 Cumberland St: $20,000 (reuse)

TOTAL: $113,500

DUNEDIN HERITAGE FUND

The Dunedin City Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) jointly administer the Dunedin Heritage Fund to support the protection and conservation of Dunedin’s built heritage, as well as the continued use and appreciation of these places by the community.

The Heritage Fund Committee has the ability to make grants or loans to the owner or occupier of any historic place within Dunedin for the purpose of assisting that owner or occupier to manage, maintain or preserve that historic place.

The Dunedin Heritage Fund can provide incentive funding for a wide range of works. These include:

i. Essential repairs, stabilisation or core structural works.
ii. Restoration projects.
iii. Upgrades to code/regulation standards to enable contemporary use of heritage places, eg fire, earthquake, access provisions.
iv. Specific “like with like” material replacement/maintenance projects that protect the integrity of heritage buildings (eg slate or timber shingle roofing; copper gutters/downpipes; wooden joinery; stained glass; stonework; pressed tin ceilings; etc)
v. Preparation of heritage conservation plans.
vi. Emergency or protective works to protect heritage fabric.

Note: Routine maintenance will not normally be a high priority for assistance.

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█ For more information and guidelines for how to apply, go to:
Dunedin Heritage Funding Application (DCC website)

Contacts:
Glen Hazelton, DCC Policy Planner (Heritage) 03 477 4000
Jonathan Howard, HNZ Otago Southland Area Manager 03 477 9871

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Vogel Street Party —Sat, 10 October

Admission: FREE

The inaugural Vogel Street Party was held last year in conjunction with the first ever Dunedin Street Art Festival; this year’s event will again be staged in the warehouse precinct and will collaborate with the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature group for a party themed around Literature and Light.

LITERATURE To celebrate Dunedin’s creative city status as a UNESCO City of Literature Dunedin, New Zealand. You can find us sitting alongside only 10 other cities in the world that hold this status, including Edinburgh, Melbourne, Dublin, Prague & more.

LIGHT As 2015 is the International Year of Light, the VSP will be Dunedin’s major effort to join in the world-wide celebration of light and light based technologies.

The events, exhibitions and activities will follow these themes and showcase the talent and creativity we have hidden in our city.

The Vogel Street Party 2015 — fun attractions for people of all ages.
PARTY STARTS 10 October at 3pm.
Note start times vary for Open Hours at Heritage Buildings.

█ Webpage: http://vogelstparty.nz/

█ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1611938749075531/

█ Download: Vogel Street Party PROGRAMME

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OPEN Buildings [excerpt from programme – click to enlarge]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Law Courts | ODT editorial

The Dunedin courthouse is one of the city’s finest historic buildings, and part of a heritage cluster impossible to match anywhere in this country.

We await an “unequivocal commitment” from the Government to return court services to their Dunedin home.

### ODT Online Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Editorial: ‘Nonsense’ courthouse costs
OPINION Really? Would earthquake strengthening of Dunedin’s courthouse really cost more than $15million as officials claim? Or is this another example where supposed post-earthquake costs are used as an excuse? Or can the Government simply not design and commission building work for reasonable prices? There is probably a bit of both.
Read more

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Dunedin structural engineer Stephen Macknight called the Government’s $15million strengthening figure “absolutely ridiculous”.

Director of Dunedin construction company Lund South, Russell Lund, said his experience suggested the $15million figure was “just not even credible”.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Sep 2015
$15m bill for court rejected
By Craig Borley
Dunedin engineers and construction experts have rubbished the Government’s claims the city’s historic courthouse needs earthquake strengthening work worth more than $15 million. […] Lou Robinson, director of Hadley Robinson Engineering, said he knew the courthouse intimately after being involved in the 2002 work on the complex. He estimated an “upper limit on strengthening of perhaps $3 million”.
Read more

█ Website:
http://www.saveourcourthouse.nz

█ Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurCourthouse

█ Petition to Justice Minister Amy Adams:
http://bit.ly/1FlZIWy (via Avaaz platform)

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Related Posts and Comments:
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage

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Post and image (2015) by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Prison: Community Trust grant for restoration

39 Dunedin Television Published on Sep 17, 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart

● Resource consent granted for conservation and repair
● Funding from Otago Community Trust
● New visitor centre
● Prison tours
● Restaurant for courtyard

### dunedintv.co.nz Thu, 17 Sep 2015
Historic prison restoration gets kickstart
A $90,000 grant is kickstarting the project to restore Dunedin’s historic prison to its former glory. The money will enable the Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust to start exterior repairs. And that means members are finally able to turn their vision into reality.
Ch39 Link

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[click to enlarge]DCC Webmap – 2 Castle Street, former Dunedin Prison [Jan/Feb 2013]

█ Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust

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Related Posts and Comments:
16.9.15 DPAG exhibition talk, Sun 20 Sep —Jonathan Howard on Dunedin 1865
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
30.8.15 DPAG exhibition | Dunedin 1865: A City Rises…
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 ‘The Open City’ … 29 Aug
23.8.15 1865 Dunedin —Heritage Festival 2015 Shoreline Trail launch
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage
28.2.13 Tour the old prison in March (2013)
20.9.12 Dunedin Prison
6.6.12 Dunedin Prison purchased by trust
18.10.11 Dunedin Prison Charitable Trust

█ For more, enter the term *heritage* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr