Four P.O. buildings planned for 1986

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 17

Four P.O. buildings planned for 1986

By TESSA WARD In mid--1986 work is expected to begin on the development of four Post Office buildings in Christchurch including the multi-million dollar Chief Post Office.

This six-storey building has been designed to retain the facade of the existing historic post office and with each successive storey of the new block stepped back to avoid visual dominance over the Cathedral Square. Public access to the Square and other shopping areas will be maintained through a central glass-topped atrium with escalators to a first storey skywalk. The Christchurch District Chief Postmaster, Mr Syd Bradley, said recently that there would be some inconvenience to the public during the construction period. Counter facilities would be retained on the present site, he said.

“Planning for the start of construction involves some rearrangement of existing facilities which affect the public.” he said. “Part of the savings bank facilities will be moved in the next few months from the Hereford Street office to the square. “For ordinary banking this will be a help to the public giving them access to counter facilities at both sites. But other services such as loans and investments may require some movement between the two buildings by customers” he said. Banking facilities in central Christchurch would be extended while the Hereford Street bank was reduced in size to allow the new post office complex to be built. The City Council had

given its support to the plans for the new building designed by Ministry of Works architects, Mr Bradley said. The central glass-roofed atrium will enhance the intimate design in keeping with the scale and atmosphere of the Square. A glass structure will link the historic part of the post office with a new building behind to contain telecom’s banking and other customer services. Ground floor space will be retained in the old buildings for postal services and office space will be developed on the upper floor of the complex.

Exterior cladding of the new building will comprise a decorative finish on a concrete structure with anodised aluminium windows. Strengthening of the old Chief Post Office is part of the proposed work and will include spraying the interior masonry walls with concrete using reinforcing mesh. A new building is also planned for Merivale where the present facilities have reached capacity. The building will be built on the same Papanui Road site. In Papanui, an addition or a new post office is planned on the existing Papanui

Road site for an estimated cost of $900,000 including facilities for the postal delivery service. In Redcliffs, where the existing post office on Main Road is in a leased building, another building is planned for the middle of next year. Using its site at the corner of Main Road and Beachville Road, the Post Office plans to build in concrete and glass at an estimated cost of $150,000. The final article in this series on the Post Office will feature the telecom investments planned for the end of 1986.