The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1966. An Inspiring Civic Concept

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 12

The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1966. An Inspiring Civic Concept

The enthusiasm that was kindled among Christchurch people by Professor Gordon Stephenson’s selection of Victoria square as the site for the town hall and civic centre will, we feel sure, be fired anew when the public become familiar with the details of the competition-winning design. The perspective drawings and site plan reproduced this morning give some idea of the grace, dignity, and perfect attunement to a superb site of the buildings designed by the successful architects, Messrs Warren and Mahoney; for the technical excellence of the work the public must, in the meantime, rely on the glowing praise of the competition assessors and their professional adviser rather than on a lay appreciation of the many impressive and surprisingly detailed technical drawings which the town hall committee and representatives of contributing local bodies saw for the first time last evening.

This is indeed an inspiring conception for the future civic heart of Christchurch, located, appropriately enough, by the city’s original market square, and enfolding the gentle curve of the Avon and the sweep of riverside lawns that are intrinsically Christchurch. The city is assured that it will have a group of civic buildings which will both serve its people’s needs and earn for it a distinctive place among the cities of the world that are respected for the quality of their public buildings. This is a distinction that is not reserved for the big and the wealthy. Indeed, it is probably easier to maintain the purity of architectural aesthetics when the scale is modest but uncramped. The financial terms of the competition for the design of the town hall and civic centre were strict. Christchurch has no wish or reason to be cheeseparing over this project, which has been so close to the hearts of its citizens for a century or more; but its civic buildings must be within its means. There is every reason to expect that the town hall and concert chamber and their associated buildings will be realised within a few years; the funds to pay for them are in sight, if not in hand. When these buildings are there to be seen and used in the service of and for the enjoyment of the public it will be surprising, indeed, if citizens are content to relegate to an indefinite future the construction of the municipal offices and public library, which will complete the integrated coherent plan of the civic centre. The efficiency of civic administration is not promoted by cramped and unsuitable quarters in scattered buildings; and the early completion of the whole civic centre plan may well prove to be the course of wisdom and economy.

Christchurch has double cause for satisfaction with the outcome of the town hall design competition. Of the five “finalists” selected from the 58 entries from all over New Zealand, two were submitted by Christchurch firms—evidence, confirming that of the many successes in the annual awards by the New Zealand Institute of Architects, of the very high standing of the profession in this city. “The “ Press ” was among those who thought that the competition should have been opened to the architects of all countries. It is happy to acknowledge that the high cost and the practical difficulties of an international competition justified the narrower field. Our only regret is that Messrs Warren and Mahoney may thereby have been denied the satisfaction of an even greater professional triumph.