St Martins Community Centre

Client | CHRISTCHURCH COMMUNITY COUNCIL

TYPE | ARCHITECTURE, Interior Design, DOCUMENTATION

SECTOR | Community

STATUS| COMPLETE (2016)

Location | CHRISTCHURCH, NZ

Photographer | DENNIS RADERMACHER

Awards
2017 NZIA Canterbury Architecture Awards - Public Architecture - Winner

Approximately 200 sqm in area, the size of a traditional detached house (and relatively modest by current standards), the St Martins Community Centre could easily be mistaken for a house. Located at the heart of Christchurch, the centre is an important addition to the city. Following the two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, which claimed the original centre, the new building acts as an important healing device as much as a ‘new kid on the block’.

The design features a single storey with pitched roofs and was constructed with recycled bricks from houses in the surrounding area destroyed in the earthquakes. The arrangement of the recycled bricks suggests the making of patchwork quilts, something that brings the community together. Conceived as a home but with a library, meeting rooms and other community facilities, there is a deliberate strong sense of nurturing and domesticity throughout the space.

As well as creating a low-slung building with intimate spaces, Plus also allowed the centre to breathe, with an open-air pavilion and apertures in the walls to provide fluid and interconnected spaces. Private meeting rooms and thoughtfully curated spaces further create a domestic setting.

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