CURATING HISTORY

This year, the iconic Curator’s House Restaurant celebrates its 21st birthday, as its building of residence turns 101 years old. You may know it as a great place to dine fireside in winter and outdoors in summer, a place to pop in for casual tapas or celebrate in private rooms, but there is a wonderful story behind its heritage, opening to the public, and its longevity.

The Curator’s House is one of the most iconic and photographed heritage buildings in Christchurch. It was built in 1920 as the home for the curator of the Botanic Gardens and designed by architects Collins and Harman in the Tudor style, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.

Five successive curators lived in the house until 1982 when it was rented to a private family. In 1998, the City Council approved the proposal for the Garcia Knight family to open the building to the public. Husband-and-wife team, Javier and Jackie, would establish a restaurant, and develop the demonstration fruit and vegetable garden in partnership with the Friends of the Botanic Gardens. Heritage features were respected as the family contracted Wilkie Bruce Architects to carry out heritage sensitive earthquake strengthening, which led to the post-2011/12 earthquake success story.

With the family’s financial investment to fund the works, the City council was able to ensure the upgrade and security of this heritage building, as it sustained minimal damage in the earthquakes.

Over 19 months, the council carried out further strengthening to bring the building up to new standards before the restaurant could reopen.

The demonstration fruit and vegetable gardens encourage people to cultivate their own produce by providing examples and methods for growing them. Fresh herbs, colourful garnishes, and vegetables supplement the restaurant – from the garden to the plate.

Fortunately, both the family-run restaurant and the building have stood their tests of time, which is remarkable for hospitality or heritage buildings in Christchurch.

To honour this story further, the Garcia Knight family has applied to feature a historical visual display and a guided garden open morning for the Christchurch Heritage Festival 2021 this October.

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With decades of alterations, not all of them considerate of the building’s heritage, Three Sixty Architecture was tasked with the restoration and rebirth of one of the icons of Oxford Terrace – the Public Trust Building.

Originally built in 1922 and designed by Cecil Wood on the western edge of the Ōtākaro/Avon River Precinct, the changes culminated in severe, but not irreparable, damage in the Christchurch earthquakes. The building was originally slated to be demolished, but Box112’s ambitious decision was to save and restore. Three Sixty Architecture’s new internal planning has made the building commercially viable, with a mixture of appropriately sized options for commercial and hospitality tenants.

The project recently received an award in the ‘Heritage’ category at the Te Kahui Whaihanga, New Zealand Institute of Architects 2021 local awards. The jury’s citation states, “Installing new uses in heritage buildings is not always an easy task, but in this case has been undertaken with respect and sympathy, including the addition of a rooftop bar, discreetly set back from the upper parapet. This heritage building is now a rare survivor of its type in the central city and has been carefully and meticulously conserved and restored.”

Dean Cowell, Director of Three Sixty Architecture, says it was ‘important to define the existing from the new’.

“Where new elements were added, we used a palette of materials that complemented but were clearly not part of the existing fabric. The stand out feature on this project is the remodelling of the penthouse level into a modern architectural form and changing the use to the rooftop bar, which brings the public into the stunning building for all to experience.”

He goes on to say that the entire practice was ‘humbled by the praise’.

“The recognition from Te Kahui Whaihanga really is a credit to all those involved who delivered such an amazing result for our city.”

threesixtyarch.co.nz