5 April 2018
Designing the Former CTV Building Memorial Site in Christchurch
The site of the former CTV building on the corner of Cashel and Madras streets is one of the most significant reminders
of the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. The collapse of the building in the quake resulted in the loss of 115
lives, with many more injured.
Designing a tribute fitting to the site was a highly sensitive process. The design team from Jasmax worked for crown
development company, Ōtākaro Limited, to deliver a design that played tribute to the gravity and sadness of the space
but also aimed to provide a little lightness and hope.
From the beginning the families and other stakeholders were a crucial part of the design process.
Landscape architect, Rob Lawry, from the Christchurch office, was the project lead. He says: “Jasmax came to this
project when there was an overall concept in place and then we added to it. The key question we were working with was -
Does this serve the wishes of the families? This is not an earthquake memorial as such, that formal site exists down at
the official memorial wall on the Avon River. This is an intimate space, a site of memory.”
The design grew out of the building foundations.
“The slab was a key driver in the design. It was to remain in place as a remnant, a memory. The slab was not a flat
piece of concrete, it has various levels, cracks and visible ground beams. We filled them with planting.”
The covering and uncovering of the slab was to provide choice to people entering the site.
“It can be confronting, so we designed it in such a way that you can walk off Cashel St, across the grass that is the
former carparks, rinse your hands in the water feature, and walk out across the bridge, all without touching the slab if
you so choose.”
Another key component in the design of the site was the idea of youthfulness. Families expressed a wish that as so many
who lost their lives were young, the site would be a place that reflected that. Alongside the site’s four surviving
trees, there are new cherry blossom and kowhai trees and a large green lawn.
“It is designed to be organic,” says Rob. “We wanted the space to be open ended in the way people interact with it.
There is a perforated steel wall where people have come and laid tributes, and a plinth, but we have left it
deliberately inviting to place tribute in other areas. It’s not prescriptive.”
The work was completed on a tight timeframe of eight months, with Rob on site almost daily during the construction
process. The contractors were City Care and JFC. Despite the time pressure, Rob says it was one of the smoothest
projects he’s worked on.
“Everyone understood the sensitivity of the area. We all wanted to create something special.”
The space was opened with a blessing on 21st February, 2018, on the eve of the seven-year anniversary of the
earthquakes. In order to come full circle and acknowledge those that had lost loved ones, some areas were left
unplanted, and the families were invited to put the final plants in the ground.
“One family member had bought along her own tree, a Southern Rata. Her mother was one of the three that were never
recovered from the site. We quickly shuffled other plants around so we could give her future forest giant enough space
to grow to its fullest potential.”
Rob remembers being evacuated out of the old Jasmax building in Hereford St, standing in Latimer Square, and looking
south to the CTV building on the day of the quakes. He says the feedback received so far has been “overwhelmingly
positive.”
The plant on the site will now grow into the evolving city, where the CTV memorial site will sit in the midst of
Christchurch’s new residential design.
“The great thing about this is that it’s a living design. The plantings will grow and it will get better and better.
Eventually, it will be infolded into the residential space of the East Frame. Our aim is that this is functional as a
pocket park, yet is always respectful. It will always be an important piece of our city.
ENDS