| 67 T T Kelly Deeks Revitalising a classic The upgraded Dorset Street Flats were designed by Miles Warren in 1956. ARCHITECTURE Young Architects A project which was an honour and a privilege for Christchurch architecture studio Young Architects to take on has taken an important piece of Canterbury’s architectural heritage and made it current, with a host of thoughtfully applied upgrades that will allow the Dorset Street flats to be used and enjoyed for many more years into the future. The Dorset Street Flats were designed by Miles Warren (later Sir Miles Warren) in 1956 and according to Heritage New Zealand, are among the most important domestic buildings built in New Zealand in the second half of the twentieth century. Sir Miles had designed them as a young architect and with the flats he launched an architectural vocabulary that would come to distinguish Christchurch’s post-war architecture and also help to shape modernist architectural design across New Zealand. In 1958, Sir Miles and Maurice Mahoney began an enduring partnership and created the practice still known today as Warren and Mahoney. Sir Miles was the first New Zealander to be knighted for services to architecture and he passed away just over a year ago at the age of 93. His Dorset Street Flats had been badly damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes and Young Architects was commissioned to repair, strengthen, and revitalise them. Young Architects managing director Greg Young used to work for Warren and Mahoney and he felt the huge responsibility this project had placed on his practice. “We were both honoured and scared to take them on,” he says. “These flats are famous. They set new architectural, social, and aesthetic standards for residential buildings and they are now studied at university. They are as protected as you can get in New Zealand for residential architecture so the responsibility was massive, but so was the opportunity.” Young Architects’ work combined a mixture of heritage research, an understanding of how to improve the buildings, and a respect of their critical architectural detail. Previously deemed as earthquake prone, the Flats are now strengthened up to 70% NBS with a combination of intrusive and non-intrusive techniques. A new exposed concrete core honours the Béton brut, or raw concrete, influences on the original design. “We strengthened these flats in such a way that that didn’t make the spaces any smaller,” Greg says. “These walls are working hard structurally, aesthetically, and architecturally.” The Flats are now insulated, heated, and waterproofed, and their kitchens and bathrooms sensitively upgraded, with much of their original joinery maintained to reflect their history while improving their usability. Young Architects’ renovation of the historic Dorset Street Flats has won the studio two awards from Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2023 Canterbury Architecture Awards in the Heritage and Resene Colour categories. Judges felt Young Architects’ thoughtful approach respected the original design and architect, and enabled a local treasure to endure. Bespoke, Architecturally Designed Joinery & Timber Solutions
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