High-rise block to be built on Maling’s site

Press, 11 March 1987, Page 9

High-rise block to be built on Maling’s site

The old Mating and Company building in Gloucester Street, opposite the Canterbury Public Library, was demolished last week-end to make way for a new 10-storey, $8 million office and retail block.

Plans for the new block, which includes a 42-space car-park for tenants on two floors above the retail shops, were announced yesterday by Mr John Gibbon, chief executive of Meadow Mushrooms, Ltd. Meadow Mushrooms was involved in the buying of

Maling and Company last year.

The Forbes Group of Christchurch will manage the project for the sole developer, Maling and Company.

The Christchurch architectural firm, Warren and Mahoney, had designed the 10-storey building to make the most of the wide uninterrupted view of the Avon River, the Law Courts, and the mountains beyond, said Mr Gibbons.

Mr Barry Dacombe, of Warren and Mahoney, said one of the more

striking features of the building would be the twin exterior lifts. The top three floors had been recessed to add architectural expression. The leasing of the building is under negotiation with a number of parties.

Town-planning consent has already been granted and construction is due to begin in June this year. It is expected to take 18 months to complete. The new building will provide a total leasable area of 5038 sq m.