New $1M shopping centre for inner Christchurch

Press, 11 April 1977, Page 1

New $1M shopping centre for inner Christchurch

Demolition will begin today of the old Shades Hotel building in Hereford Street to make way for a SIM pedestrian shopping centre.

The new centre will accommodate 40 different retailers. The two-storey building will'link Hereford Street with Cashel Street and will cover more than 5000 sq. m. Behind the development is Griffin Kain and Rolleston Investments, Ltd, which intends to retain the name, “The Shades,” for the centre as a link with the past. Dr Brian Perry, a Christchurch born architect now resident in London as a consultant in retail shopping centres, flew to Christchurch at the end of January to study the project. He has been retained as a principal consultant. Dr Perry has been a consultant for several major European. American, and Middle Eastern shopping and commercial developments, and manv shopping centres in Britain. Construction of the 5000 sq. m building will begin

later this year. It is intended to open “The Shades” in time for the 1978 Christmas trade. The building has been designed round the pedestrian shopper to give a relaxed and interesting atmosphere. Progress through the centre will bring the shopper to changing degrees and forms of lighting, varying walk-way widths, and different ceiling heights. Escalators, stairs, and lifts will provide access to the mezzanine areas, which will be clearly visible from the central groundfloor walk-ways. An elevated cafe and seating areas will provide views of the assorted shop fronts, the pedestrians below, and the fountains and other visual highlights which have been included in the design. The choice of shops and the placing of those shops to create a balanced shop-

ping precinct has been determined by a team headed by Dr Perry and a leading New Zealand retailer. Mr C. D. Ogilvie, a former managing director of Beath and Company, Ltd. Some tenants have already been selected. Applications from retailers throughout the country are still being received in response to advance advertising. The principal architects and engineers are Mr P. F. Helmore and Messrs Halli- | day. O’toughlin, and ! Taylor. The old Shades Hotel, a three-storey brick and stone building, is believed to have been built about 1861. The property was leased to William Sefton Moorhouse for 21 years. There were many leases up to 1928. In 1952, ■ Thomas Hall bought the , hotel. It ceased being a , licensed hotel seven years ;

later. The executors of Mr Hall’s estate sold the building in 1963 to the Carter Trust, which sold it some 10 years later to the building firm, Atkinson and Forbes. Since the hotel licence lapsed, the premises have been used by several retailers and a restaurant. During its hey-day as a hotel, the Shades had several licensees, one of the best known being Mr A. Kyle, who ran it during World War 11.