| 67 Extensive restoration wins heritage award The chapel is the focal point of the College House complex and hovers elevated above the college’s grassed quadrangle. T T Kim Bowden “Because of its architectural importance and heritage listing, it had to be done in a way that was sympathetic to the building and heritage setting...” Wilkie + Bruce Architects ARCHITECTURE Christchurch firm Wilkie + Bruce Architects has been recognised for its sympathetic renovation of the heritage-listed College House chapel. The firm won the heritage category at the Canterbury Architecture Awards 2025 for its work on the Chapel of the Upper Room. Originally designed by esteemed architect, the late Sir Miles Warren, the chapel is the focal point of the College House student halls of residence complex in Ilam and hovers elevated above the college’s grassed quadrangle. Over more than a decade following the Canterbury earthquakes, it has been subject to extensive assessment, restoration and modernisation work, while preserving its heritage character. Wilkie + Bruce director Hamish Peddie, one of the architects who have overseen the project, says the building has an imposing double-height volume, with a distinctive M-shaped copper roof. “The floor of the nave is raised up on pilotis to first-floor level. You enter the church at ground level and progress through a rather dark enclosed space, then ascend a floating staircase into the main body of the chapel, which is elevated and light-filled,” Hamish explains. “That main body is a large, double-height space with a very expressive timber roof structure and in-situ concrete beams, contrasting with plain white blockwork. We can see all the connections and the detailing. “It has an antiphonal pew arrangement, so the congregation or choir sits facing each other across the nave in an east-west direction, with the altar at the south end and pulpit at the north.” In the aftermath of the region’s earthquakes, engineers assessed the building to be at under 33% NBS, and therefore considered earthquake prone. “To be made functional, significant structural strengthening work had to be carried out,” Hamish says. “And because of its architectural importance and heritage listing, it had to be done in a way that was sympathetic to the building and heritage setting, while meeting the current and future needs of College House.” Work progressed from the top down, beginning with the sensitive addition of new steel bracing and steel connections to tie existing timber truss ends into the concrete perimeter structure, and new concrete bond beams at eaves level. Re-engineering the building’s foundations was key to the project’s success. The building was propped to allow a new concrete raft slab and ground beams to be poured underneath in stages, while new infill beams were cast at first-floor level, and blockwork buttresses and selected beams and junctions above these were wrapped with carbon fibre wrap (fibre reinforced polymer or FRP). As well as structural earthquake crack repairs, strengthening of selected groundfloor blockwork walls was also carried out with new in-situ concrete overlays (shotcrete) and additional shear walls. This work required careful detailing in order to complement, rather than detract from, the unique design and mid-century feel of the building. Other design elements requiring careful heritage consideration included the tall, multi-paned stained-glass nave windows painstakingly replicated in steel framing, alongside innovative additions to meet contemporary regulations – such as an air bridge linking the chapel to an adjacent building (which already had lift access), providing the required alternative egress. Wilkie + Bruce Architects started in the 1980s when notable Christchurch architect Alun Wilkie joined forces with Alec Bruce, rebranding as Wilkie + Bruce Architects in the early 1990s. Today, Hamish is tasked with taking the company forward, alongside fellow director and architect Tony Hoare. The company is unique in the breadth of building types it designs. Over the decades it has developed a solid portfolio of work that includes school and university buildings, churches, banks, theatres and laboratories, as well as residential homes. A completed project close to Hamish’s heart is the Christchurch City Mission, which provides vulnerable communities with food support, transitional housing, a night shelter, educational and budgeting support, and drug and alcohol services, alongside running a social enterprise cafe. “The aim was to provide the City Mission with buildings that were modern and forward-looking, as well as being practical and useful,” Hamish says. “Although they are institutional buildings, they had to feel homely.” The 2025 Canterbury Architecture Awards are presented by Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects. R.G. Newton Organ Builder Ltd PhD BA(Hons) MusB LTCL Est. 1998 Pipe and Reed Organs Tuned, Repaired and Restored ❦ Office: 27 Westmont St, Ilam 8041 | Phone: (03) 357 4896 Mobile: (027) 204 7228 | Email: nzorganman@gmail.com Once again, we are thrilled to congratulate Wilkie + Bruce, and Higgs Construction, for their excellent achievement at College House, and look forward to working with them again. www.higgsconstruction.co.nz . i i . . “Chapel of the Upper Room, College House’s Construction Partner”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=