The opportunity
The earthquakes are an opportunity to create something special in Christchurch.
Imagine a garden city where we took the Manhattan rooftop garden to whole new level.
Given that most people in the CBD will not want to live and work in high rises, then this new set of low rise buildings give Christchurch the opportunity to build an elevated garden/walkway space that could become one of the world’s iconic cities.
Instead of the roofs being wasted space it would be possible to make the space useful and linked with walk/cycle ways. You could walk bare foot around the CBD on grass without your feet ever touching the ground. Visitors landing in our fair city would look down on roofs of pure green. With new sustainable, energy-conscious buildings we would become the greenest city in New Zealand inside and outside.
The roof space could be used for:
- Parks
- Cafes/Bars
- Shop fronts
- Office entrances
- Playgrounds
- Court yards
- Sports areas
- Iconic wooden bridge designs
- Slopes from other public spaces could go up the elevated gardens
- Not all space has to be public could be office BBQareas etc
- Taller buildings that look out over the gardens
- Bird sanctuary – (no rats or cats)
- Native forest – Riccarton park (maybe turn Latimer square into this?)
- Bike hire scheme
- Lots of other creative things
How it will work from a planning point of view
- Every new building has to have half (or 1/3 or 2/3) of the second or third floor dedicated as open space
- The council will create a network of linked walk/cycleways connecting the second or third floor roof spaces
- This will be a relatively simple set of rules that would allow building owners/architects lots of flexibility and creative options.
- Could start small in the centre initially but could grow long term to take in all 4 avenues.
Advantages
- Relatively low cost way to create a city that could become an iconic world destinations for tourists and creative people
- Every building has an extra elevated street frontage
- Ability to do something a bit different with each property depending on if it is housing, office, cafe, retail etc – creative options for all buildings.
- There will be vastly more useful space in CBD not just dead roof space!
- Can still use relatively inexpensive building techniques but create something dramatically different and unique when linked together
- Easy to get started and can expand over time
- People will be able to walk and bike around without cars in an easy, safe way – will probably be the preferred way to get around town on short journeys
- Building interfaces will be standardized sothe bridges can be relatively inexpensive – only foot and bike traffic
- Still has possibility for good urban density – backyard on roof as the concept expands to the out skirts of four avenues
- Very simple set of planning rules that still allows lots of room for creativity but ties the city together in a distinctive iconic way
Genius, I love it, great work guys, would be an incredible thing to see and use – and a nice way to connect the city
Great concept.
Would also like about 5 x 5 blocks of limited car access – have a carpark in each corner with service lanes with 5 min loading zonesif you need to pick something up. Parking car gives free ticket for electric tram (Example of this in France)- Have curves in streets with trees to limit the affect of the nor-easter. Also wish we could limit industries such as banks, insurance companies to second floor space with small street frontage for access as they don’t add to the city experience.
Like this idea!
Bonne idea en Francais!
Like this idea too, and had never thought about how banks and other businesses like these do not add to the street appeal at all. But now it’s obvious to me that they do not.
How very exciting! Brilliant ideas. Great discussions. I agree with most of the posts and the few I don’t agree with are still brilliant because they provoke and sustain interest in this most audacious, yet obviously sensible idea!
I loved the old Chch and I mourn its demise. I would welcome the new Chch and the link between the two are the people of Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand.
My only worry is the habit our generation has of rewriting the past in an image we like now. Please go carefully. Maintain and honour the history of this place.
Beautiful, creative concept. Fitting for our new city. Lets get the idea out there.
absolutely stunning roofworld, the 21st century hanging gardens of babylon, you have my vote
I love this idea, tis unique idea and exactly what CHCH needs. I hope the powers that be have courage to implement such a vision to build something better!
I think the important thing is not to wait for the powers that be to give their approval from on high, but for people to collectively just start sharing their own ideas and getting them out there and people will naturally have to pay attention.
Agreed. Why would you just want to leave what you want your city to look like in the hands of people you can’t even name?
Boy I hope you don’t live in my ward – if you do I need to lift my game!
Great to see such creativity and energy here. Watching and listening with interest.
Very nice, like the concepts!
Nice idea, I’d be a bit worried about all that weight, even that high up, adding to the high forces we are already going to have to cope with. Perhaps an Engineer should comment.
Green roofs are not lightweight, unless you are into Astroturf…
Very keen to hear from an engineer on the additional cost – anyone? Welcome to do a guest blog post giving details.
My guess is that there are lots of relatively low cost options but if you want large trees etc the costs would escalate.
When looking at the cost you also have to say “what is the cost of having a boring city…..?” I’m keen to hear if there is a more cost effective way to create an iconic world city
The Concept is different but you could cause 2 negative situations to occur. Firstly, it would be easier for unsavoury characters to escape capture by the police. Secondly the Health and Safety aspect is lacking around the perimeter of the buildings. Great views would be a bonus but at what cost to life in another earthquake. I agree with Russell Devlin about the weighty issue of the rooftop gardens. We should really avoid heights of any kind. Cathedral Square is too far below Sea Level to be entirely safe. Maybe that could be a starting point for elevation.
Get police onto mountain bikes and unsavoury characters not a problem. Concept looks great.
Look lets be frank, it is Christchurch not Lagos, Nigeria, the amount of unsavory characters is limited and on the Worldly scale of unsavory characters they most are not that unsavory. We can deal with the idiots – why limit your imagination and dump on a great idea with negative spin like this.
We can deal with creating less unsavory characters by building a better city and creating more opportunities for jobs and industry through creating a city where people want to come, see, work, live, eat, drink, socialise and enjoy.
Yep, police on Mountain Bikes – best idea to patrol this new city.
Cathedral Square is above sea level you dolt. The avon flows Downhill to the sea not up hill… sigh.
Definitely, but not far enough above sea level.
The cathedral Floor is only 6.2m – the low water table has always been an issue in canterbury
*like
You need to check out the plague on the ground in front of the Cathedral to discover that I am right.
You shouldn’t make statements without knowing the facts. Real Cantabrians would know that as we were taught that in Primary School.
The plaque in the cathedral is a datum point which states that the point of the datum is 6.2 meters above sea level. There has been a silly myth going around Canterbury all my life about this rubbish of being below sea level. Only Ken Ring-a-ding-a-ling supporters would continue stating that absolute rubbish.
The weight shouldn’t be a huge problem. Many buildings already have swimming pools on rooftops
Lol @ Kevin King
Agreed, this can be done with reletive ease. There are many structures and houses Worldwide with earth roofs or garden or grass roofs.
There are two or three new high-rise buildings in the Perth CBD with multi-level roof-top gardens, cafe’s and green areas. Some of these roof-top gardens are large 2-3000m2 + maybe even more, it is hard to tell when you are looking down on them from 18 stories up!
I agree. The whole city needs to be re-build on higher land, eco friendly, in the forest would be great. The trees didn’t fall down, in fact they seem to be the only things still standing!
Love it guys. Brings back the Garden City in style.
I’m told Chicago has a 2-level environment around North Michigan. Very innovative thinking; clearly engineering issues, safety etc to work through but creating a workable series of levels and spaces in principle is exactly what we need. What a great chance to differentiate Christchurch internationally. Well done!!!
You might want to add to your list of advantages that it would reduce storm run-off by delaying how fast rainwater reaches the stormwater system. I like it. Some engineering challenges, but nothing that seems impossible to overcome.
Nice work. Suggest blend of bamboo species on roofs rather than large trees as they are light, wind resistant, earthquake resistant, and respond well to being contained. They also can help provide privacy. If earth for grass is weight issue, might have to reduce area or have just planters. Irrigation for planters could be integrated into the roof structures and could feed water from below, minimizing evaporative water loss. Light pipes could carry light down into the buildings.
Would be good if the standard structure could be designed so the interiors can have either single, double, or triple height ceilings, to allow for event spaces. Hope to see lots of wood and glass, not concrete.
Interesting concept, was wondering about the levels of natural light that would get into the buildings though
Green rooves have a strong possibility of being an important part of city planning in the future. There are innumerable benefits that aren’t even touched on here, including the storm water run off reduction already mentioned in comments. It might be different to what we’re used to and what builders, architects and engineers are familiar with – but all new innovations are. We can’t grow without change. Since we have to rebuild much of the city itself, it will make it much easier to make sure the rooftops are well supported than if we were simply renovating what was already there. And after all – aren’t we the Garden City?
Disclosure – I am a CBD building owner (well, more correctly the owner of a very significant pile of bricks) so have the economic imperatives to juggle along with the social, environmental and cultural ones).
I love the thinking here – I believe that Chch has the opportunity to build something iconic – in whatever way we articulate that. However I’m wondering about the practicalities of this given;
- Chch isn’t constrained geographically and that has long been a problem when it comes to encouraging inner city densification – this proposal would potentially exascervate the urban sprawl that is one of the biggest problems Chch faces
- Building owners need to find a return, forcing them to go low rise in place of what existed post #eqnz could be seen as unfair?
- Given that we’re not geographically constrained, why have rooftop gardens at all? If the greening of the urban area is the desired aim (something I support) why not encourage the greening of urban areas through reserves and gardens – the council itself is a large landowner and could help this along
More thoughts to come I guess. I’m not poo pooing the idea, just keen to hear and think about the intended and unintended consequences
Cheers!
Good luck for the future Ben. Christchurch has to think differently after these disasters. No point rebuilding on the same bad ground. Has the cost of land reclamation/recovery in the CBD been completely thought out. It may cost far too much to consider rebuilding a new city centre in the same location.
Great idea but can we rebuild safely in the city centre ?
Fantastic! Christchurch would truely be the garden city! It would be safe to move around the city centre with children and perhaps easier for disabled people too.
So the plan is to build high-rise footpaths above a faultline. Great.
2-3 stories is hardly high rise……I’m assuming anyone not happy in new 2-3 story structures won’t be living any where near any fault line.
Everywhere in NZ is near faultlines. Bridges are only dangerous if not appropriately engineered.
no need to be a negative nancy.
Lovely concepts. Walkways covered? Cycle ways separate from vehicles: in the town centre for ‘utility bikes’ or slow speed, lycra bikes need their own tracks for commuting. Provide bike parking.
If the city centre is nice to be in, maybe people will want to live there
I’ll watch this space
For some reference, its effective and not overly hard to do (its been done many a time, just maybe not on this scale)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rightantler/169390496/
http://greenroofs.wordpress.com/contact-us/
http://www.greenroofs.com/blog/2010/05/19/gpw-esri-canadas-garden-in-the-sky/
I would most definately come to CHCH to view that! The views would also be amazing, imagine a cafe with an upstairs garden to sit in and eat out of the city!
It’s great to have some visual idea showing what other cities around the world have conquered this.
I recently saw a Grand Design episode about a parabolic roof house that had a garden on top, at first it seemed really weird. But looking at the final product was inspiring and the garden seemed to grow from the ground.
Yes the views from the rooftop garden BBQ area on top of the old Council building in Tuam street were remarkable – uninterrupted views of the Alps and Ports Hills. The views of the Alps in Winter were stunning.
The other point not touched on is the increased sunlight hitting these roof top spaces in winter due to less overshadowing from over towering buildings and the increased wind movement 10 – 20m up would keep things dryer – less frost above this level also.
Also, without being too dramatic, if there ever was flooding (more likely) or a Tsunami these spaces and buildings may mean the city can still be safe and operational despite adverse conditions – Well with properly constructed modern buildings anyway.
We have NZ examples of light-weight green-roofs
For some case studies, photos and information see http://www.livingroofs.org.nz. Results of a four year research programme tasked with developing locally-sourced, light weight greenroofs in Auckland, and finding out how much stormwater they absorb (heaps!), will be released as an Auckland Council Technical Report this autumn – it has lots of useful information on assessing weight loading, design, construction and performance.
It would work. And once we get our export lamb price up to $200/head it may be worth considering running some sheep on that grass also?
supercool…this is pure kiwi spirit …
Awesome idea! It is very refreshing to see thought being put into opportunities right now. As a volunteer Structural Engineer I’m working at ECO as Operation CBD Coordinator. We have around 50 engineers carrying out building evaluations, business access recovery and car/bike recovery. Long days, typically 7am to 7pm. Search and rescue is still being carried out in some areas of the city. Focus is on public safety, reducing the hazards of unsafe buildings and increasing access. Many people will not want to live and work in high rises. It is great to see people thinking about new opportunities for our city. I was inspired when we were in New York last year where one park in particular is built above the busy streets from a disused railway line.
Check out: http://www.thehighline.org/
Our 5 year old son, Alan has been designing a light rail system for our city.
Russsell – The weight of the green roof can be supported structurally though engineering design.
Keep the ideas flowing!
It is a nice idea, but that really is a lot of weight added on the building structures. Yes, that can be engineered for, but at pretty significant cost to the building owner given the higher seismic loading codes that need to be followed in NZ. Most other places that do this type of thing are not in high seismic areas.
One of the links posted earlier showed a very nice picture of a garden top roof in Wellington. Fault line much?
They are building green roofs throughout Japan with light weight soil. The buildings certainly meet all the stringent Japanese Earthquake codes so I don’t see why it couldn’t be done here.
The extra weight wouldn’t be any more of a problem for engineers then a high rise currently poses. Love the idea, hope chch has the courage to go through with it.
High-rises aren’t generally built with a massive load coming down on one point. Thats why I think it it could be a problem when trees are involved. Also it has to be designed to be earthquake proof which complicates it further, don’t know if a building with a tree on top has been designed to be earthquake safe before?
How bout add community garden/s. Loving this idea. so bright.
yes I was thinking community gardens as well. maybe on some of the city council buildings like the library.
Business owners may want to make their garden space more commercially viable by having cafes, gardening shops on theirs. The city gyms could have outdoor exercise classes or personal training sessions on running or cycyle tracks though the rooftop gardens, event spaces for roof top weddings, photography studios with garden setting just upstairs. I’m sure the commercial ideas are endless and that smart business people can find new ways to make money off their roofs while maintaining most as public access. If they can make money off their roof when they couldn’t before surely this will help offset some of the costs.
See, thinking like this is what expands this idea into something truly commercially viable. Give every business an incentive to be a part of this.
Speaking from my personal point of view – the thing that scares me the most about the city right now, is the feeling of being “enclosed” and “surrounded” by buildings – the concept of a green space covering Christchurch CBD removes that fear and provides such an amazing space to show the world.
There is no such word as impossible
Stunning! A great way to ‘flatten’ and unify the city.
Uh, not going to happen, because anyone who’s building is not a write-off/demolition will not willingly demo their building to take part in this scheme. Game over.
30-50% of the CBD looks like it will be demolished. We are not proposing demolishing the rest. We did try to show a few existing buildings but sorry if we didn’t show it fully. I’m guessing it would be even cooler if the elevated garden and pathways weaved in and out of existing buildings.
I love the idea. I’m also an engineer and being given a design brief like this would make for great job satisfaction. However having been a part of the recovery effort so far I just can’t see how you and others can make this happen in the fragmented owner, insurance, council, and legislative environment that exists.
Yes, that weaving of spaces is what would make it truly COOL!
Nooks and crannies, different views, perspectives, vista’s.
You could even have multi-level water-features, with waterfalls and such (doubling as a cooling system). Kind of like the Couplands one, but awesomer…
very very cool idea!
This is a great concept to pursue! Another link that should be added is http://www.calacademy.org/academy/building/the_living_roof/. As that page discusses, living roofs decrease the “Urban Heat Island” effect. This gives the advantage, not stated above, of a significant reduction of energy required for heating and cooling of buildings.
My thoughts below relate to the elevated space being primarily roof gardens or living roofs. Of course, the general idea of an elevated space does not require this on all or any of the space and ideas should be pursued in all directions.
I have reservations about some of the ideas presented in this post. As a number of other people have commented I’m concerned that living roofs would not allow the stated the advantage of relatively inexpensive building techniques. It’s definitely possible to make buildings that will sustain the load, but my understanding is it’s significantly more expensive. Not that I’m an expert.
Also, I think we shouldn’t be limiting building height in the CBD. As the book Green Metropolis argues, dense cities are green cities. Furthermore, I don’t think most people are as afraid of tall buildings are they’re being made out to be. Tall buildings can have rooftop spaces just like short buildings. These could either be reached from public elevators in the building itself or, with neighboring building heights organised correctly, in a stair step fashion from lower buildings. Advantages offered to the elevated garden as a whole by tall buildings would be making it visible from above to visitors and the population of the CBD and providing “hills” for effect and exercise.
It should also be noted that a garden of this scope would require significant organising. Would it be the responsibility of the city council or building owners? Presumably the council, but then what rights do building owners or business operators have to the roof garden on their buildings or by their businesses? Such a significant increase in council managed garden would also require a significant increase in the number of council gardeners.
Finally, a couple of ideas of my own. Someone mentioned bamboo as opposed to large trees. That sounds like a great plan, but I think it would be nice to have some trees as well. Different trees have different limitations, deep or wide root systems, danger posed, water requirements, etc., but this could be managed with the right selection of trees. Areas such as the proposed ramps could be lined with trees as there would be more vertical space for roots and no buildings below to crash through in the event of them falling over. Being on ramps could also offer a nice flow from treed spaces below to the rooftops.
Thoughts of both bamboo and trees gives rise to the idea of different biomes on the roofs. Obviously, as they’re all outdoors in the same climate they couldn’t be too different, but there could be large areas of bamboo, a small coppice of coniferous trees and bushes, even a particularly sturdy roof with a wetland on top of it. The Botanical Gardens does a wonderful job of having different, unified sections and a similar thing could be done with living roofs. The roofs even have a preexisting delineation of the sections.
As we rebuild, even if we don’t have a unified concept such as this, I hope that consideration will be given to roof spaces for the advantages they can offer and so that the space is not wasted. Let’s hear your ideas everyone!
it doesn’t sound like you work in 1 of those Christchurch high rise buildings. I do, and I can tell you its unnerving. Until those shakes stop, up is not forward!
You’re right, I don’t work in a high rise and haven’t worked in the CBD for over a year. Really, I wouldn’t consider anything less than ten stories a high rise, but that’s beside the point. We should not let fear dictate our decisions, but rather sensible planning and precaution.
High rise buildings can be built to withstand earthquakes just as well as shorter buildings. There are plenty of examples in Japan and California and I’m sure elsewhere. They may sway unnervingly, but they are safe. Proper design will also ensure that it is possible to escape from high rises safely and quickly in the event of an earthquake whether the building sustains damage or not. I understand that stairs in Forsyth Barr were designed for that, but then not built properly. Because of the benchmark set by this earthquake new buildings will be the safest in Christchurch.
Building up is not backward, fear is.
WOW!!! That looks so incredibly cool! I’d like to move there, please!
Wicked – You think we can get the trams on the roof too? And the Wizard?
What a wonderful idea!
Can see these drawings are at concept stage, but I’m looking at the apparent steepness of some of those slopes and wondering about access for wheelchairs / buggies etc
No thanks.
If you are going to build a giant teletubby playground; do so on solid ground. Take a hint from mother nature. Build a new Chch CBD on safer grounds as far from the epicentre as possible. Face it, Chch cbd was built on a swampy, sandy, grinding tectonic fault line. Right next to one of the worlds largest dormant volcanos (Lytellton harbour).
Agreed.
I am a keen designer and get very excited about ideas like this – I also love how much support you have. BUT it is a great idea for elsewhere.
Japan is built on the same sort of land and they don’t have anywhere the same problems we’ve had because they build better. It’s a great idea provided we don’t have a tsunami which is where it’s all gone pete tong for Japan
The Lyttelton and Akaroa volcanoes are well and truly extinct.
James, unfortunately the problem with your comment is that the epicentre in this instance is on a previously unknown fault….Who’s to say there isn’t a network of faults all through the greater Chch area that are unknown? Does that mean we don’t build a CBD anywhere? Just food for thought ;0) If it’s got to be done then why not do it low rise and have some fun with it!
Yes. Despite being built on “bad land” the old town has stood up pretty well through several major quakes, many decades apart till now, and the death toll, while horrible, is *minute* on a percentage basis. People who want to turn the CBD, where I live and have lived most of my adult life, into a graveyard make me ill.
this is wonderful. I was hoping that something different would be done. Christchurch could and should, never be replaced the way it was, to make it so futuristic is a step I hope the powers that be let happen.
As Richard said earlier,
We are the powers to be, don’t wait for someone else to build concrete boxes.
It is always rare to find competent people on that topic, but you seem like you know what you are posting on! Cheers
I think this is BRILLIANT.
Makes the city iconic and different from the rest of NZ and the world.
I understand the comments from the owners, however from what I am hearing you will struggle to get people back into the city anyway, so no need to build tall buildings, no one will be there to rent them from you. This is a way to get people back into the city centre.
Go for it Canty….
Love it – great to see that some creative thinking is being brought to bear. The earthquakes do indeed provide a great opportunity to do something really different with the Christchurch of the future. Picking up on a number of points:
1. Weight – not a show stopper and with some thought (plant bigger trees at ground level that will, in time, provide shade higher up) would not significantly add to cost. Don’t forget that green roofs also act as great insulation, so keep down heating costs.
2. Rents – building owners will need to get their heads around the idea that the path to rental yield is through attractive low rise and not high rise. If high rise buildings do remain / appear in ChCh, I would suspect their rental yield will be severely compromised by a lack of demand for that type of office / living space.
3. Fitting this round remaining buildings – sure it might work to keep some, but those in charge are already on record stating that removing ‘good’ buildings that are in the way of a future planned city is likely to be part of the rebuild.
4. Roadspace – seperating walking and cycling from the roads below has its merits, butby removing foot traffic from ground level destroys the retail environment and creates a peoplefree traffic dominated environment. Careful design would be needed to create the “urban park” above, but retain the street as a multi-purpose environment. Also need to totally rethink how much of our city is given over to roadspace and parking – this becomes particularly if we are redesigning as low density.
5. Moving the CBD – to where exactly? Before Sep 4th, Christchurch was one of the least shaky parts of New Zealand. Anywhere lives with the threat of natural disasters – seismic, flooding, tornados, whatever. What comes next just needs to be build strong and low.
6. Trams – maybe not elevated trams, but elevated monorail fits really well with these types of concepts.
I’ll stop there for now – love the ideas and really hope to be a part of rebuilding the city along such lines.
“Moving the CBD – to where exactly?”
Other side of the airport.
West of the airport you get into the Waimak. flood zone – another natural hazard. Sure, you could engineer for that with flood protection barriers but this would be at massive cost.
No, look elsewhere again.
I like the idea of moving the CBD though, or at least having a satellite business district.
I agree with simon there is no point moving the CBD. where ever it goes there will still be natural risks. Build stronger and lower. the whole idea of a Central Business District is that its CENTRAL not out of town
I’m really glad you brought up the point about roadspace. I think we should definitely be looking at making a two/multi-level space, not simply elevated. As part of this it will be essential that we still get as much light down between buildings as we do now and have the ground level spaces like Cathedral Square and City Mall.
You’ll see elsewhere I advocate not limiting building height and here in reply to comments about traffic it seems appropriate to add considerations of parking buildings. Parking is already a problem in the CBD and if we limit new buildings to two to three stories there will be significantly fewer spaces in parking buildings. Unfortunately, much underground parking is prohibitively expensive with the high water table.
Properly designed tall parking buildings could actually benefit the elevated space. There would be exits from the parking buildings at ground level, to the elevated space, and possibly to in between floors of the adjoining buildings like in the Litchfield and Crossing parking buildings. They could also act as focal points for changes in the level of the elevated space, opening to the roofs of two story buildings on one side and three story buildings on the other. Traditionally, parking buildings are pedestrian unfriendly, but if they are being designed for the dual purposes of parking and elevated access they could have footpaths and more access points/stairways/elevators. They could even have external pedestrian ramps that gave a view over the roof gardens. Instead of being a necessary blight they could be stylish additions to the central city.
One last thought. I’m not sure what the plans for the underground bus exchange will be going forward. A two level CBD could mean that the same pedestrian benefits could be gained by having the busses on ground level and the majority of pedestrian traffic through the upper level. However, automobile traffic would still be a consideration.
Brilliant idea, great use of space, “greening the city”,
Covers the triple bottom line
Environmental benefits – stormwater, vegetation, birds.
Social benefits – Transportation – no more cyclist vs vehicle situations in CBD,
Economic – more retail space
Kiwi ingenuity at it’s finest! Love the spirit of the Cantabrians, it may be a hard time now but looking at ways forward and beyond makes me proud to be a kiwi. Talk about soldiering on. Good on ya!
I’ll watch this space with interest!
This would also give the city an opportunity to incorporate a commuter rail loop, for those who live in the outer suburbs or satellite cities like Rolleston and Rangiora.
The Kobe quake taught the Japanese a lot about engineering elevated structures.
How about encouraging former Christchurch architects who now live overseas to submit concept plans? I know one who last year won a European competition to design a music pavilion for a city in Germany. A European or South American influence could produce many varying ideas.
I love it, what a great example of lateral thinking. This is a concept I could get very excited about.
The idea is obviously still in its infancy but what a great notion!
As I watched the lighting of the flame at the commemoration service in North Hagley Park today, I wondered if this was intended to be a permanent thing in our city. if not, then perhaps it should be. Perhaps the Chalice in Cathedral Square, if it’s still in one piece, could be modified and utilised as Christchurch’s eternal flame – a symbol for our future.
Awesome IDEA!! Would surely vote for it!
dunno eh ?
It’s not like ChCh is cramped for garden space or green areas. Heres one of my ideas…
http://pollywannacracka.blogspot.com/2011/02/christ-cityhard.html
I think this is a great concept that holds a lot of practical weight and should certainly be fully explored. When I read your blog it’s more of a random thought thrown about haphazardly with little justification or conceptualization behind. Maybe build a little more thoroughly on your chatter and see if you can come up with something worth the debate.
Wow I love this idea…making ChCh so unique that people travel from all over the world to view. Think Venice but with funky roof top cafes, leaisure areas and greenery instead of canals! Yes the cost would be more significant and insurance companies may not be paying out enough for building owners to cover the cost…but think about the long term economic benefits of attracting many people to our beautiful city and businesses. How many cities get a chance like this to design and rebuild so much of its centre? @ James – the art gallery was built in the same area and suffered no damage at all. There are many people who have confidence to return to the Central City area so long as buildings are designed and built correctly. Great work guys, I hope ChCh gets behind the idea of not letting this chance slip them by.
Like your thinking. Here are a couple of links to places with inspirational green roofs:
The first is a roof garden just off Kensington high street in london. Yes, the pictures are all of a garden in London, they do have Flamingos, streams and medium size trees.
It is currently run by Virgin.
http://www.roofgardens.virgin.com/en/the_roof_gardens/gallery/the_gardens
This is an example of another sort, an elevated railway that was decommissoned and rather than destroying it it was converted to a elevated garden/ green road.
http://www.thehighline.org/galleries/images
Personally I loved what had been done in Christchurch with the lanes and interesting historical spaces. It was creative, innovative and built on what had been there before but looked to future uses. This idea shows the same spirit and creativity. Good luck.
Great for summer but not that practical for winter/rain.
Interesting concept though – i hope others come up with other interesting/unique concepts which will put Chch on the map and make it a truely unique place to live and work.
Someone could come up with a movable transparent, light weight roof that could shield out bad weather and the sun’s harmful rays…something like those removable sun roofs in cars but better!
We have an opportunity to do something special, this is special.
If this idea is feasible I love it and applaud you for thinking laterally and getting the idea out there. Will make sure I get the site onto my face book page.
Absolutely love the idea.
Of course there would be pitfalls and challenges, but the same would apply to any scheme for rebuilding our city.
Thank you so much for starting the discussion.
Dibs on the Gardening Contracts.
Our Heritage Buidings can be re-created (outward appearance ) with lite-weight construction methods for cladding, plaster/resin over polystyrene for example.
Incorporate your ideas Gary with this and we retain links to our past but move very much into the future.
Great idea.
Keep them coming Christchurch….
Innovative, inspired, original, and perhaps just what Christchurch needs.
sorry, but it looks like a pile of shit.
you are a sad man
add something constructive. What do you reckon should /coould happen?
“He who has no vision for the small things also blinds himself to the greater design.” …
Good idea. We could incorporate manure from all the dairy farms.
*like!
great starting point, we do have a unique opportunity to build the city centre and discussions should start from here, but i suspect with an open forum we can do better yet
Agree. Anyone have the technical wherewithal to create an open-source, recreate Christchurch site?
Love the idea, but the trees on rooftops? how are they going to anchour themselves there, especially in our NWs and Southerley’s?? It would have to be more flower beds than trees, but loving the green idea
This is a really great idea. Feedback from previous posters pretty much includes everything I have to say about both the benefits and issues (as a civil engineer by training I agree there are quite a few of those but I don’t believe any is a showstopper), so here’s just one thought: how can we get this to the stage where it will be at least considered by those responsible for the rebuilding? Perhaps it would be useful to form a non-profit organisation or some sort of Public Action Committee? Of course it would need to be driven by individuals as it is now but having some formal structure would make it easier to get our voice heard (and donations from supporters collected, if necessary).
I bags not mow the lawn
Just need to mow in a nor-wester John. No catcher and no clippings.
Love the idea but wouldn’t street access be a problem for people travelling in between rooftop destinations and street level destinations unless there was access from every building?
Anyone know how to get this idea pushed in front of the right people? It’s all very well having an awesome idea but the right people need to run with it for anything to happen.
Now that’s a great idea! Hope it’ll create some interest – building a better Christchurch, a city of the future. Awesome!
Absolutely amazing. I am in love with it. What a spectacular idea!
Great idea, would be good for tourism
Lovely idea and so fitting for the ‘garden city’. We lived in Tokyo for a number of years and most of the big department stores had an open space on the roof, usually astro-turf and play areas for children, together with outdoor eatories. Getting to the roof garden was always top of the list for the kids when going shopping.
Many obstacles Hope it gets serious consideration.
Excellent. The powers at be must ensure that whatever replaces the CBD is safe but the second most important things to me is that the area feels like a unified space that we all want to spend time in. Our previous CBD achieved this because of the number of heritage buildings and the green open spaces. Our new CBD needs to be planned as a whole before individual buildings are constructed. Your concept ticks all those boxes for me.
Congrats to you for the idea. Can we get a voting poll online so that the planners sit up and listen?
What a brilliant idea! Christchurch really needs to capitolize on its green garden city image when it is rebuilt, what a way to do it.
Love it. We don’t need high rise blocks on the endless Canterbury Plains. We do need a world class tourist destination and this is our opportunity to create something special.
Yep awesome, great idea!
Funky idea , but then where would you put those special tomato plants that grow on the roofs of those old inner city buildings?
oh and i see you have canned the chalice in the square as well?
YAYYY
Like most posters I’m very much for this idea and would happily get behind it.
In response to some of the safety issues mentioned putting fences around the roofs to stop people falling off wouldn’t be a very attractive solution unless we did it using bamboo of some similar type of plant as a living wall.
Alternatively we could put flower beds or other items to create obstacles between people and the edge of the roof. You won’t stop people that are determined to jump but people like that aren’t likely to be stopped regardless of what we do.
One of my first ideas about living in a city like this is seeing many more people walking around their city. In my imagination I see people cycling (could also use those bicycle taxis they have in other countries too) and perhaps roller-skating could be made more popular too (yes I watch a lot of American movies).
Finally for those that are worried about the loss of foot traffic to stores on ground (car) level lets move those stores up to roof level. It was mentioned at the start of this article that roofspace could be used for storefronts, bars and cafes among other things as new buildings are required to have between one and two thirds of the second or third floor dedicated as open space. The other portion of the floor (and floors above/below too) can easily be used in the same way that the first two floors are used today.
As for access perhaps a slope along a couple of sides of each block could provide wheeled access (wheelchairs, bicycles, skates, etc) while stairs can provide more direct foot access.
And an idea that I’d like to contribute is to stop building more than 4 or 5 floors above ground level and consider building below ground level instead. I’m not an engineer and certainly not an expert on the matter but the few inquiries I made into this idea several years ago showed that people who lived underground frequently reported more constant temperature control with lower heating costs as a result. Also the earth removed to build below ground could be used to help with construction above ground (the ramps, etc).
Obviously there are issues involved with building underground but I don’t see much difference between an internal office above ground and one below ground. The windows could be programmed to show the view through a camera above ground (for those that are claustrophobic – not sure if its enough for serious cases though) or to show any image really… A snowcapped mountain, sandy island beach, even the view through a security camera in your own home if your paranoid about security.
But like I said before, I like the “Elevated Garden City” and would even consider mowing the lawns if we went with a natural grass rather than astroturf or other artificial option. It might be good if some local gardeners could give some ideas as to which grass and plant types would do well in an environment like this, particularly with the winds we frequently get here.
Cool idea, lets hope something like this happens, something different. Maybe could have some vege gardens up there too for citizens.
I really want to champion the comment you guys are provoking through this and the other positive ideas for the future that are coming in response to this terrible disaster and the necessity to rebuild CHC’s city centre. Very few cities get the opportunity (and it is important to see it as an opportunity as well) to re-invent such a large part of the CBD in a way that reflects and serves the needs and requirements of its citizens, and for that at least, we should be excited.
I love the idea of a really green CBD, but I want to throw up two issues that I don’t think are being considered in the above scenario. If each could be overcome, I think the rooftop greenery concept is terrific.
Firstly, a low rise city centre will naturally require office and retail space to spread out ‘wider’ than it was. Take the Grand Chancellor for instance – if you reduce that to 3 stories, then it requires more land to provide the ‘hundreds’ of rooms and offices it did at 20 stories high.
Across the entire city, that would mean a greater use of physical land, and the probable spreading of office and retail space out further than the current Oxford Tce, Armagh, Madras, Tuam Street ‘hub’ that was CHC’s CBD.
Though it would be wonderful to have the entire area, or major parts of it, covered in gardens, grass and trees, there are two strong negatives that I can see.
Firstly, spreading the working population over a wider area will lessen the density of foot traffic across the inner CBD. This has quite important ramifications for the retail sector. Though it could potentially be easier for people to get around the city at lunchtime by walking across rooftops, I can’t see that happening to any great extent, particularly not in winter or when it is raining. With high rise buildings, you have a large number of people emptying out into specific food/clothing/banking areas en masse. The shops in those areas survive based on that large foot traffic.
With a low rise area, I would predict most ‘workers’ would end up sticking to the shops in their own block rather than walking a km to buy lunch at a particular outlet. Two to three storey buildings restrict high and medium density foot traffic/patronage to levels far less than what has previously been enjoyed in the CHC CBD. Inner city shopkeepers would therefore have to re-evaluate the levels of patronage they would require to remain a viable trading concern – I fear that many, including businesses like McDonalds that only locate in areas of the very highest density foot traffic, would think twice. (But just imagine a green city without McDonalds…….brilliant!)
Secondly, weather. Green gardens with trees and flowers in the sun and on warm still evenings would be fantastic. But just how would the populace use those rooftops the rest of the time? Rain, wind, sleet, snow – providing covered shelter defeats the purpose of the design proposed above, surely, as you can’t really grow plants and grass under roofing and awnings unless it involves some sort of giant greenhouse type construction. And awnings, as dangerous as they became in the earthquake, are what allowed the vast majority of the working public in the CHC CBD to retain a semblance of dryness and warmth on those numerous wet days when it was preferable just to stay inside and eat at the computer!! Throw in that cool easterly ‘breeze’ that kicks in at about 2pm, as it so often does, and any exposed rooftop areas would simply be windswept spaces where visitors and commuters would rush across looking for any vestige of shelter. Wet grass, dirt and leaves are simply not practical inner CBD desirables in a climate like CHC’s, regardless of how many ‘building bridges’, bike paths and pedestrian walkways you choose to include in the overall design.
I sound very bah-humbug, and certainly don’t want to. But the three constraints Christchurch has (small population, a cool temperate climate with prevalent easterly/southerly winds, and a potential for further earthquakes in the future) mean that any grand new concepts for the city must be shown to be practical and affordable in the face of each of these factors.
I would have to say, what rain? Chch only gets 600mm a year.
I love the idea – definitely a wondeful opportunity for CHCH to rebuild in a more clean, green, efficient and sustainable way. Why not lead the way for the rest of the world?
It looks pretty and I would love to see a city that is designed for walking and cycling, but the thing that everyone complains about in Christchurch is the easterly. If areas could be designed to provide shelter from the wind it would make the climate in Christchurch far more appealing.
One thing that is concerning to me is the opinion that “most people in the CBD will not want to live and work in high rises”.
How much of that is actually true? I would happily work in a high-rise environment in the Christchurch CBD and I’d say a lot of others would too.
FYI I wouldn’t consider the CTV or PGC buildings high-rise. PWC and Forsyth Barr are, however.
Given an event like the recent earthquake, I’d imagine that any new high-rise building would be built to the strictest of standards so I would have no fear for my safety in a future earthquake.
Were you working in a high rise when the earthquake struck? Are you working in 1 presently?
I am 1 of the ones that until the shakes stop don’t want to spend any time in high rise buildings. This is common amongst the persons I work with.
Forget about ‘imagining’ new high rise buildings here.Look at the reality of what has happened…devastation.
It’s safe because it’s been green stickered…and the engineer’s seen it…yeah right
I’m definitely in agreement with you and @steve commented on one of my above comments too. I would like to believe that people are simply still jumpy because it’s less than a month since the earthquake.
This looks amazing. I love the idea and would spend much more time in the city to enjoy this sort of thing.
I love it, but it’s impractical for the elderly, sick, young etc with so many slopes. How will an elderly couple find walking uphill? Or those on wheelchairs? It’d be hard to also ensure safety – slipping over, etc.
inclined escalators (with or without steps) would help those with low mobility – I think it’s a legal requirement.
Lifts..?!
Awesome love the idea we need something like this – great to see imaginative thinking.
Thanks for putting this out there in the community. Great idea! This is what we need now, great ideas to get the ball rolling, some positivity going back to the heart of our city. I love the idea of separating people and bikes from cars, and greening everything. Fabulhof!
I think the idea is cool. Its quirky and different, and I think if we are rebuilding we need to create and iconic city, one that is talked about around the world as a ‘must see’ destination. However, I worry it has flaws, such as, if we are putting more and more weight on top of buildings, such as cafes, cycle ways etc, is this not going to put more pressure on a building in an earthquake. Granted we can make our buildings stronger, but extra pressure on them wont help will it? I do like the concept…I like the fact it is different, like the new harbour city area in Singapore or the new environmental city overseas ( in Japan i think?)
The idea in itself is pretty awesome but a few suggestions.
First of all, we need to get away from a model of the central city where it is composed mostly of office space. Rebuilding along those lines simply recreates all the problems the city had prior to the earthquake. When every Council for the past decade at least had to have a strategy for “reinvigorating the city centre” it is because that centre was dying long before the quakes hit. A huge number of businesses, which required office space, moved to offices in the suburbs and other outlying areas, due to lower costs. Shops and cafes that remained struggled because there were not enough customers coming into the central city, since the suburban malls simply offered more convenience. Building the same city model but with rooftop gardens will not change that situation in the slightest. What Chch needs is modern, safe and attractive apartment blocks in the central city, we need not 5000 but 45,000 permanent residents in the central city. That is the only way to guarantee that the centre is re-invigorated, that it becomes iconic. It needs to change from a Central Business District into a Central Cultural/Living District.
As for your actual design, I see many places for traditional Maori designs, but Christchurch’s tradition is as New Zealand’s most English city, therefore I strongly believe that the koru-motif banisters should be changed to reflect that fact. Some kind of Edwardian wrought-iron design perhaps would be far more in keeping with the city’s traditions.
You have some good points about the suburban convinence and that we need to make the cbd centre of culture for chchch. But let me ask if you want 45000 (big number) central city residents, how are you going to attract them from the those convinent suburbs? My answer would be to encorporate as best as possible public spaces (not necessarily grass grass grass but definately some green http://www.elevatedgardencity.com/ ) that becomes nodal points and an underpinning infrastructure for areas of residences. The majority of expensive dwellings outside the city are located by some form of ecological system. This can then be considered ‘attractive’.
As for wrought iron edwardian balustrades, this is the 21st century we like glass and iphones! Wrought iron is tacky!
*http://www.thehighline.org/design/high-line-design
Some nice ideas here but agree with previous post – need mixed use in the CBD to create vitality. Also, think that these designs take the life away from the ground level, where most people will dwell for most of the time. Imagine what this ground level space will look like. Though green roofs are a fantastic idea and perhaps a careful balancing of ground floor design and your designs would work.
Re last person’s comment, there is room here for an introduction of Maori place identity, along with it’s current English tradition. I think this introduction has to be done in fundamental ways, not just has an ad-on koru-motif which has become reasonably cliched – though at least these designs recognise something of Maori identity unlike many others.
I really like the idea. There are issues that would have to be worked out but I would suspect they would be far less difficult than guaranteeing the earthquake safety of a 20 story high-rise.
I love it. I don’t know if I agree entirely on all the details, but I don’t have to. What I love is that here are some individuals, non-experts, taking it upon themselves to add their creativity that collectively makes up our city. There has been so much centralisation following the quakes, hoping for the ‘experts’ to save us. It’s the ecosystem of the people in all their diversity that makes a city, not some kind of single idea by one or two clever people.
Great work. Go Christchurch individuality, creativity and diversity!
Love it! Why not also have park and ride scheme in place so no need to drive into the city, serving people with electric (hybrid) busses like the free yellow shuttle, or an extended tram system, or even a Metropolitan Light Rail system between Rangiora-Kaiapoi-Lyttelton-Rolleston. Dedicated delivery truck access on restricted roads. Why not create an atrium and cover over the whole of Cashel Street Mall (like in Italy)?
This is why New Zealanders are so great. What a FABULOUS idea. Whether people want to work in high rises or not, this idea has huge merit. What better way to create so much green space for people to enjoy. Lets hope the ‘powers that be’ find a way of making this work even if its not the whole CBD but one section at the heart of the city.
Intriguing idea. I like the concept and can see it would be an excellent tourism pull to help rebuild our tourism in ChCh. I imagine there will be a few challenges but if anyone can do it CANTERBURY CAN!!!
I’m for it theres lots of interest in alternative architecture and with the chance to rebuild it could all be done on an eco theme, either recycled materials or sustainable types, making a truely green city. would need to get the trams running from the suberbs though and take away the necessity for people to use cars.
Interesting concept. I really like the idea of utilising this currently wasted space. My only thought is that in times of heavy and intense rainfall or snow, because the roof tops are completely flat and because the water will be absorbed for longer periods due to the characteristics of the roof surface, would they be able to cope with the added weight and moisture? I guess some sort of drainage system would need to be installed to make sure we do not have the issue of flooding of the building roofs and then a flow on effect of this overflowing from the roofs to the streets below.
Some sort of drainage system to prevent moisture from flooding off the roof and on to the street… How about the spouting systems that most (all) buildings have today?
We could take this one step further and have the spouting feed water back up into the garden as irrigation or feed it into a purification plant to provide more drinking water.
Only issue with that is the moisture will not drain as fast to the spouting system because it will be absorbed into the ground. Roofs these days are made of materials which allow the water to run across it quickly; but if grass, trees and the like are on the roof, the water will instead soak into it. So if there is heavy snow, or rainfall they may not be able to drain fast enough to prevent flooding. Spouting systems also require gravity to deliver the water to the spout, so if the roofs are flat, gravity will have a difficult task moving the water to it.
With so much grief and sadness, there has come a rare opportunity to rebuild almost an entire city in a way that those who perished, those who survived and those who watched in horror from afar can be proud of. I left Christchurch 9 years ago but my heart is still with my home town. I would be so very proud to see this sort of idea take shape and transform my home city into a true utopia.
Love the idea, I think we should keep the lawyers, accountants etc who seemed to swamp the city out in the business parks that they have now moved to. I think we should take the opportunity to keep cars out of the CBD as well and have a mono rail system like Sydney. There sould be areas where people can park their cars and do what you do in Disneyland . It means tourists and the public have access to your faboulous gardens quickly and efficiently. Have the city centre full fo wonderful cafes and bars and make it the hub of Christchurch. The key is the mono rail, it would service the business parks as well as the city centre .
Debbie
I think its a fabulous idea! I think no matter what we do though, we should avoid high rise buildings, large concrete structures, and adapt the EQC ideas more than ever (such as fastening cabinets, tvs, cupboards etc and using locks on cabinets doors so the force of movement doesnt throw the contents out). Maybe we could build steel drums in each building or public space with emergency items. I honestly dont think this is the end of the disasters, I believe there is more to come. So now is the time MORE THAN EVER, to create safe spaces, evacuation plans.
Also another question: Where will we accommodate the tourists?
But fantastic idea…very modern and exciting. Go CANTERBURY!
What a ridiculous idea. Leave it to the people who know what they’re doing.
Two comments. If you want to criticise the idea fine, but constructive criticism would be appreciated. Secondly, define the “the people who know what they’re doing.”
To provide constructive criticism would suggest that what is presented here could be developed into something that would work whilst retaining the fundamental concept. I can’t see that that’s possible so I’ll ask some questions instead.
The weight of an elevated garden that’s capable of growing anything worth growing (like the trees shown in the concept images) would be immense. The structure required makes it hugely expensive and limits the useability of the floor space below. Why build it if it’s going to be full of concrete columns?
The footprint of the buildings and the spaces between them means that natural ight can’t penetrate the floor plates. Who would want to work there?
The same issue means that you need huge ductwork to get fresh air into the building. Where does it go?
People actually like cities. They like sitting on the sidewalk having a cup of coffee and running into people they know. Where does this happen in this elevated city?
By the time you build this elevated garden you’ll have a bunch of very expensive space that is either unusable or unleaseable.
Leave it to the urban designers, architects, engineers, builders, property developers and council. They built the beautiful city we’ve lost and they know what they’re doing. Inventors, software developers and some guy who can work a (bad) modelling program dont.
Brilliant idea. Great to see people thinking hard about the future of our city.
I saw similar projects with my own eyes last year in both Chicago and NYC. Thought they were fantastic. Something like this implemented into our own cities centre could be the right thing for regeneration. Im looking to champion anything that helps brings 10s of thousands of residents into the Four Avenue.
btw, I, for one certainly dont mind the idea of highrise returning to the cbd, I live and work a few floors off the ground and I am happy to continue doing so.
creatively brilliant… but if we have a low-rise cbd we’ll need to accomodate the lost commercial space elsewhere. why not have a second cbd to the west of hei hei. rolleston has already established itself as a significant satellite, so a rolleston / lincoln friendly cbd will attract both business and talent.
I think that this idea is very innovative and the support and comments posted so far are very constructive and enthusiastic!
One thing that I have to point out is that Christchurch is known for its very cold easterly wind. To me any roof top cafes/bars occupying the roof space, along with walkers/cyclists will be extrememly susceptible to the extremes of weather that we can get in Christchurch. I am sure that there will be some things that can be done to minimise this, but thought I would just put it out there to keep in consideration.
Keep up the initiative!!
This Concept is BRILLIANT! Reading all the comments and things people have already suggested it’s easy to see that this is possible if a Leader has the Vision to explore it. If you look at what has been achieved towards this concept already in just a few days, imagine what would happen if the Government put the CHCH CBD up for tender to the world market? To scientist, Engineers, Architects etc to go away and come back with something along these lines?
The possibilities are endless! We could even look to other countries or international organisations For funding towards the short term research and Development as much like NZ was the Guinea Pig for EFTPOS (International banks paid for everything) we could be the Guinea Pig for an ECO-City.
Its not very often you get to re-build a city from the ground up! to re-build the status quo would be a crying shame and a mammoth mistake!
I truly hope this idea is taken as far as it can be! Well done for your vision and action!
What a neat idea, and really cool to see such a positive range of comments. I Love Christchurch.
Brilliant idea,
Great chance to create a greener city (Color and technologically-wise).
Extra green space will clear up the air around the CBD (and, to a lesser extent, all of Christchurch) and the roof space could be used to support solar and wind technologies. (i.e lighting could be powered by solar panels installed in the shelters covering park benches)
I would imagine wind could potentially become a problem as there would be little tall bulding around to buffer it, but this could be countered by something like a ‘shutter’ mechanism. You could have all the buildings controlled by a main weather station that measures wind direction, and then sends out this signal to each building which mechanically opens and closes the corrosponding sides shutters (Which could be made out of a lovely looking stained native wood) to buffer the wind.
Probably a bit far fetched but I’m just putting it out there to ignite ideas.
I think also originally people would not be happy about being up higher than they have to, but once they realise that modern buildings built to our current building standards and higher have the ability to shrug large earthquakes off without major damage, I think they could be swayed.
Also I think it would be a good idea to involve the youthh alot in the planning, as this will largley be built for them and the subsequent generations to enjoy.
Nice idea! This reminds me of Hundertwasser’s model of the “Meadow Hills”
I love the idea… Certainly it would put chch on the international map, and it’s the kind of Utopian, clean, green image that many tourists are disappointed to not find here already!
The fly in the ointment though is that if all the foot traffic is milling around the elevated gardens, can the businesses at street level survive?
Shop frontages could come out onto the roof space?
i.e shops could be given a certain area on top of the building that they are allowed to build a lift/stairwell entrance. like the ones going into the carpark in front of the arts gallery but more welcoming.
I have a roof garden …its a wonderful idea for the city.
There are practical problems of course, easterlies, weight and…retail foot traffic.
These can all be overcome by DESIGN.
I think the concept as shown so far is too 2-dimensional..ie.flat.
The solution is to mix it up. The garden levels should not be all on the same elevation. Some would be at street level, some at first floor height, some on higher levels. Retail can be at higher levels also, not just at street level. Cafes, restaurants, theatres can be set amongst the garden levels.
There is great scope for creating an exciting, innovative and and eco-nomic urban landscape.
We should take this opportunity, this is a GIFT.
Love the idea. We left Christchurch last year but will be back to live if something like this is designed. Particularly keen on the idea of safe cycle ways and something unique that will draw the tourists. Please please make sure that this opportunity to do something magnificant with our wonderful city is wasted.
“Elevated Garden City” – Just perfect – its different – great tourist attraction.
Awesome idea. Would love to see something like this implemented, provided it is both economically feasible and won’t crumble when we get earthquakes.
Impressed. No idea is a bad idea. There could be potential here ?
This is the best idea I have heard in a long time, the world is just waking up to the benefits of green roof’s, we are in the prime position to show the rest of the world we are smart and innovative, hopefully the city leaders show a little vision when it comes time for planning this city’s new heart.
Hey I’ve lived in Christchurch all 18 years of my life and i love the idea. At first when i heard people talking about rebuilding Christchurch as a low rise city i didn’t like the idea. But seeing this Ive come around to the idea and id love to see this happen only question though is what about the tree roots wouldn’t it cause the building to become weekend by the roots? As the trees grow?
How about if Chch gave up on its grid pattern? This is dictated by traffic, but our CBD could be made to be free from all traffic – barring bicycles and pedestrians, with perhaps a (functional) tramway flowing through it. Both of these can move freely and will better enjoy a landscaped parkland that is not linear or grid-like in its layout. Pathways could wind through the city, as the Avon river does, with lots of trees like Portland, Oregon. The city could then be made to blend into one of our greatest assets: Hagley Park – and truly become the Garden City that it is meant to be.
Christchurch has prospect to be a great venue for international conferences, with delegates enjoying being able to walk from their hotels to their conference venues, safely and pleasantly through parks, beside cafes and buskers, in the shade of trees.
This would also be a pleasant environment for universities, schools, colleges and other training institutions, that could serve to make Chch an iconic international venue of learning.
The city’s heritage of stonework could be retained safely as facades to bridges, walkways, paving, benches, planter boxes, etc, combined with far greater use of warm wood for safety and sustainability.
I agree. Walking through your city connects you to it far more then you ever could by driving and, trying to find a park. Not enough people walk anyway, and those that can’t be bothered can use trams.
One of the advantages that Chch has is that it is small. It should not wish to be big. One can so easily walk from one end to the other, as as Bernard says, enjoy the city so much more for doing so. Cars and parking can be so easily, these days, be relegated to the perimeter and to underground car parks. Chch now has the opportunity to be bold – not to be missed.
Brilliant! This is such a great idea!
Also, someone just mentioned another fabulous idea to me tonight that encapsulates the unity of today’s memorial service – having the newly built cathedral become a holy spot for ALL of Christchurch’s faiths. Unity in diversity, it’s a beautifully progressive thing
What a great idea. I wonder if the people who need to come together and agree to make this happen have the courage to do that? It would really be something special after what’s happened here.
How does one maintain this. Knowing the council they will over plant hundreds of over sized and inappropriate specimens which clash, and give no unity. Then it all has to be maintained, you can’t drive a truck onto the roof. So how do you even get the tonnes of soil onto the roof and spread cheaply? Then the trees on the roof. Dwarfed ones in planters on specially reinforced roof section maybe. And the mowers are over a 1000Kg. In fact the CDB would be constantly exposed to the noise and hazard of movers moving around. And in winter when it’s too wet to mow, esp. on slopes then the grass will be a foot high. Try walking in that when it’s wet
And where are the roads to get the shoppers into the area, or deliveries to the shops, or emergency vehicle access? Or the landmarks to navigate by. And roads mean sewer and water and phone and power networks too.
I agree with the people who say this is not a sustainable CBD model. If you don’t want mass business/retail (inclu. customers) in the CBD, but you want green space then just turn it into a ground level park.
And 6 or 7 Sydney-type “above road” Monorail units from the Suburbs to complement, & also help relieve burgeoning traffic congestion?
My husband works in the CBD (highrise) – I am a mum, so loved going into the city with the kids to meet Dad for lunch every now and then, and the atmosphere for shopping was so much nicer than the malls! I really don’t think this idea is practical – who wants to be on a roof in a NW wind, with no shade in summer, then freezing the rest of the year? Plus am thinking of kids climbing on the low fences! I think you would loose the whole atmosphere with shopping if the cafes are way up on the roofs and the shops bellow. I think some rooftop gardens would be great, but focus on street level! Would love to see 3 story high bulidings built to look old. Would be a great chance to add trams and bike lanes! This would also be a great opportunity to revitalize the Sydenham end of town.
This is a wonderful idea. I’m training to be a garden designer, and I’m also passionate about sustainability and creating green built environments. This is our future!
Definitely an interesting idea. Something new and totally different. It could really put chch on the world map and create something beautiful and innovative out of tragedy and destruction. It gets my vote.
Really interesting idea. I also think that Christchurch should instigate an international design competition and thus avail itself of the most innovative and creative designers and architects who are working around the world today.
TURN SYDENHAM INTO RESIDENTIAL NOT COMMERCIAL.
AWESOME! Brilliant concept… surely kiwi ingenuity can make this happen! Lets get amongst it folks… crack on!
cool, but how will these fair in winter, exposed rooftops? we only get a couple of months where its nice enough to sit outside. also, whats the plan on how they would interact, do they feed to key locations or just loop? nice idea though
Couple of months? There’s way more good weather in Christchurch then that. it is worth thinking about what can be done to make these spaces useful and enjoyable during the colder months too though.
3 months a year that have an average high over 20 degrees, im not saying its a bad idea but can we please actually think about the point of having rooftops with grass and bridges randomly connecting them. Case and point is our now useless stadium, too large, uncovered for when it is used WINTER, exposed to easterly and southerly… it may look pretty but is useless in a practical sense.
I think the idea of utilizing rooftops is great, but maybe more in terms for application on high density residential but not the entire CBD.
Personally i would love the see the CDB reduced in size, core emphasis on using the river, existing parks, key cultural and heritage sites, all linked with wide pedestrian, tram and cycle tree lined boulevards. High density commercial with open low density retail and leafy large section residential areas taking over the redundant outer CBD.
I worked in the CBD, in a medium – high level building. And I will be going back to work there in the not too distant future. (Incidentally, I dont have any issues with that. I am at a bit of a loss to understand why people do … Japan has much taller earthquake ready buildings. If they can do it, why cant we?)
Point is … Almost the whole year round, I go outside at lunch time – and find some green space to have my lunch. Much much more than two months a year. Yeah, the wind gets cold some times. But we have the opportunity to building with an awareness of this.
A number of the people I work with are mad enough to go jogging in their lunch breaks – also all year round. Bringing the green space so much closer … would be great for so many of us.
I mourn our beautiful city … the look of it is a large part of why I chose to make it my home. But I really love this idea.
Great idea!
I am an oldie. The Christchurch of my youth in the 1950′s and 60′s which seemed so enduring and was so much loved, has disappeared in 20 seconds.
I support the concept of an elevated city, however would like to be confident of a balance at ground level to ensure it does not become an overshadowed ghetto of rushing traffic and dark unattractive spaces. This would only create an artificial elevated ground level leaving the real ground level as an area to avoid for a whole range of reasons. Please may the actual ground level be equally attractive and interesting as the elevated level; different perhaps, but just as rewarding to visit, shop or live in.
The CBD needs to thrive as never before, and an elevated city without high rise would certainly be an attractive option.
A wide variety of residential living space across a broad spectrum is essential to encourage business opportunities at all levels, and a vibrant, humming community, attractive as an international destination and a place that residents can be proud to display to the world, while enjoying the experience of living in such a unique environment.
It is also important to respect and rebuild the past – with interesting and innovative architectural concepts to preserve parts of destroyed Christchurch into new and accessible places of surprising and enduring interest.
The underground and all supporting infrastructure has to be a given for such a scheme to succeed.
Should we be subjected to another earthquake, the new Christchurch must be able to resist great damage and loss of life so we don’t have to experience anything like this recent tragedy again.
Thank you for your ideas and concepts for a new and exciting city!
Well thought out suggestions here. Especially in regards to the Christchurch of your youth. It is important to make the ground level equally special, and also on a whole, capture both the history and rebirth of Christchurch. It’s important that in the future those who want to, can come to our city and see or “read” the city’s history in its architecture and design.
I agree with your comment of making the ground level as beautiful as the elevated leve, if fact why not have multiple levels so you gradually get higher rather than a single jump of 2-3 stories high which will shade the lower street.
Brilliant, forward thinking (instead of backwards looking) idea. This type of thing if done correctly will liken Christchurch to places such as Vienna in terms of it’s uniqueness. We call it the garden city so why not make use of the “dead roof space” and bring more life and activity to the city like this with usable roof top gardens. Great suggestion.
I just love the idea! I am from Brazil and I have been to Chch twice, and I would definitely return to this gorgeous city again. Hope this idea goes further!
i like the ideas i seen it in other countries but they have pools and gyms and like these ones parks on top of roof looking over the beautiful city but over there was sea
I believe this to be a great and ingenious idea.
How ever like many have commented about the weather issues, why not have a specific part of the roof top concrete or something between the paths?
And maybe if there is stories above this area to keep the path on top covered and sheltered with glass, this would make it viable option to move around in all weather not to mention the paths between the buildings to be covered as well.
Another issue mentioned was the traffic, like someone mentioned above a monorail is perfect for this type of design, not to mention solve our normal transportation issues about moving around the city.
Just some food for thought.
I love the monorail idea, for a laugh we could adapt the old tram stock to run on it too.
Can’t rebuild the past so build a new future. Brilliant. And make the bike and run course as long as Ironman. Makes the training easier! Seriously though a great idea.
Exactly what I have been saying! This is a chance to make Christchurch something even more incredible. If done with elegance and style, this could be like a reimagined Venice.
If this is going to be seriously looked at, then the guy from ‘cradle2cradle’ should probably be consulted.
There could be certain aspects of planning/power saving etc that could be capitalised on.
If not for gardens, then the roof space should be used for something forward thinking, solar panels for new buildings, windmills, that sort of thing, something that makes environmental sense. NZ loves to harp on about its ‘clean green’ image. Which I suspect is only a result of having a large country with just about nobody in it.
Linking a green heart like this to the suburbs with green corridors will help people make the entire journey on their bicycles. I have spent 6 months in The Netherlands and I was totally blown away by the cycle infrastructure and how it is considered the highest form of transport. All cars and pedestrians, give way to cyclists, even when coming off a round about. It was absolutely no effort to cycle 30 min across town to meet your friends because you didn’t have to worry so much about cars.
I have two small concerns about the elevated garden idea, one was mentioned earlier about wind and the other is the control of building services.
Building structures off the ground would have to be engineered with wind flow in mind to reduce noise. There can be some strange and unpredictable results where in certain wind directions something will vibrate causing unpleasant noises.
Building services have traditionally been put on the roof, out of sight, out of mind, and are typically very untidy. A stagey of screening existing services and integrating new ones into the garden would have to be thought through as part of the detailed design stage.
Some fantastic ideas, I’ve really enjoyed reading them!! I think I prefer a garden concept mostly at ground level, but I’m sure whatever is created will be built with love and care. To help restore the CBD, you need to encourage more people to use it. A previous suggestion of having more residential accomodation is great, also shaping the city in meandering curves, rather than in a grid pattern could be more welcoming. How about a lake?
Christchurch is ideal to cycle around, from commuting to visiting friends/family, shopping, tourists, students… Concepts already in practice by other countries (such as Holland) could be used, but further developed to come up with our own unique “Kiwi” factor. Here is a link to a rather long, but interesting article on how several European countries have successfully helped cycling to become the vehicle of choice. http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf
What a beautiful idea. It makes the fact of Christchurch being known as a garden city, into an even more iconic theme. It would be interesting to weave various uniquely New Zealand threads into it; such as native plants, Maori carvings and perhaps even linking the port hills tundra and scenery into it.
Um, how do you plan on growing trees that big on a roof..?
Great idea.But it would probably take 100 years to build ?
Great starting point. My only suggestion to improve the concept (in my opinion anyway) would be that any rebuild of Christchurch is not based on a property by property basis as it has been in the past. A more integrated approach to development needs to be undertaken where optimal placement of amenities and infrastructure is considered first rather than just rebuilding over what was there. This may involve realignment of streets, maybe even see some streets disappear altogether. Owners of individual properties should be encouraged to form ownership co-operatives to allow construction over a larger area, which should surely also offer some economies of scale in the long run and thus allow better returns than if they were building their own building on their own property. The layering of the city could be structured in such a way that there was a progressional heirarchy as you ascended the city.
The existing street level could remain the primary circulation route with nice wide avenues providing access to large below ground car parking lots, bus, tram and rail stations. In general public vehicular access could be limited to this level, which would also be shared with the most utilitarian users who have no need for either sun or views. The next level up could be occupied by those public users who require foot traffic, but again are not totally dependent on sun or views, such as you would find in a traditional mall, or large office spaces, sun could be brought into this level through clever use of roof lights, voids, etc. This level would have roof gardens above to create a park like atmosphere amongst which would be located the cafes, boutiques, hotels and apartments. This way rather than a series of interconnected roofspaces, and all its inherent difficulties you would end up with a layered cityscape resembling something more akin to a rolling hillside (on a conceptual level of course), with voids and pathways, pockets and promenades amongst which to enjoy the city.
Vehicular access to higher levels could be provided by either ramps or vehicle lifts to permitted vehicles during resticted hours to allow stocking of stores, etc, or alternatively central distribution points be located throughout the city to allow delivery of goods to and from stores. This layout could also facilitate a state of the art light transit system to deliver people around the city once they have parked their car (if they actually now need a car to go about their day to day business)
The fringes of this development adjacent to the river, etc would cascade down to the ground level providing 2 – 3 levels of prime positioning around the perimeter.
This rebuild requires that we cast aside the constraints of our perceptions of what a new city will look like and seek to build the city as though we were just starting out now. Christchurch is now poised to rise again as one of the great cities of the modern world, but to acheive this will require the courage to look to the future and the strength not to look back.
Kia Kaha Christchurch, we all know you can do it.
Fantastic idea, even if only a small component was used – a great selling point for the city.
I think one of the things which would need to be added to the design is the restriction of certain areas at night to keep a lid on any trouble. Perhaps allowing access from dawn to dust or having the areas very well lit.
Great to see some positive & creative ideas – its the good old kiwi can do attitude.
The concept is brilliant and many people have added excellent suggestions, critiques and noted points of concern. This is a conversation that needs to be carried on and given greater publicity. It also needs to be made known to the city councilors and the government since those two bodies will be in charge of the rebuild. It will need strong support. We in Canterbury have the guts and wherewithal to pull this off.
For engineering we have very highly internationally regarded Geo-engineering expertise at the University of Canterbury. The university also has many other personnel equally highly respected in their fields who could be used in this project. As mentioned in other posts we have highly regarded architects amongst many other professionals.
My suggestion is to spread this around in your social networking sites, show it to friends, relations, anybody you can think of. Every little bit helps and if there is a significant groundswell of public support for this then there is a chance of getting a hearing from the powers that be.
Wow! Trust you Kiwis to come up with a brilliant solution! Cities need to be liveable but also financially viable. This offers the chance to be both. People will want to come into the CBD to work and play if good design and beauty is all about.
Rationalise the street system too, ban private vehicles where possible, expand on the tourist tram by putting in a contemporary light rail system to whisk tourists from the airport into your beautiful CBD Garden. Green transport into a green city. Wonderful!
Great idea, I hope the people who make the re-build decisions have the vision and passion to build a innovative unique innercity playground! Surely would bring in the tourists again!
I was inspired by the green walkways, corridors, bridges and overpasses linking various urban centres in Singapore – see above website. You move from one part of the city to another without cars, incorporating parks and views (and oportunities for great architecture). I love the city roof garden idea and wonder if some of Singapore’s ideas about access to them could be incorporated here to make the centre more vibrant and more cycle / pedestrian friendly?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ridges
Love It!
I have always dreamed of the city heights being more utilised, especially with edible community gardens and the opportunity to dance under the stars! I think its a great idea.
This looks awesome and alot of job opportunity their for people as well. May be it is time for a new city for Christchurch .
Something to look forward to so good to all involved in this plan
I really love this idea. It looks fantastic.
I definately agree and back the concept. Christchurch could use this as a international icon and also put the South Island of New Zealand back on the radar for tourism which could in turn bring our tourism industry back to its prime over an “extended period of time”.
This concept also allows the government the ability to focus more on the safety of the Christchurch citizens – saving ginormous amounts of financing on common day engineering (that we use today) using a simplified yet effective concept such as the one displayed will allow more money to go into “Earthquake-Proofing”, “Deminished risk of fires by the use of Solar-Energy practices that are currently being developed”, and I could think of hundreds more benefits to this.
Great work on the Elevated Garden City, definately need to fire this idea to the powers that be. Why stick to conventional practices when we’re KIWI’s – We need to carry on the Kiwi Ingenuity trait.
I love the idea. Napier rebuilt in a novel way and is one of about three or four art deco places in the world. Christchurch could easily do the same with this as a well thought out plan. Osaka, also in shaky Japan, achieved a roof garden at multiple levels with its Nanba Parks building. Check out the link . It could easily be applied to low-level buildings in Christchurch’s CBD.
Fantastic idea, really refreshing that great ideas are starting to emerge on how we can rebuild Christchurch to be a modern clean green city.
I visited Chch last August and really liked it particularly the charming brick 2 storey 1920′s and 1930′s shop fronts which proved so dangerous.
Here is a link to an existing Green bridge, complete with trees, in London over the Mile End Road http://www.bridges.mottmac.com/bridgeprojects/specialistprojects/thegreenbridge/
hope this is informative.
I am broadly in favour of a green city but I am concerned about access for people with less mobility to multi level sites. There are outdoor moving staircases in Barcelona (after they hosted the Olympics?) but I think their climate is drier than Chch (or London) and of course there will be energy costs for them – unless they are solar powered from the remaining roofs? (They will be mainly used in daylight.)
Also as many posters have said there is the issue of wind – in general hedges are better at defusing wind as walls tend to create turbulence which can be worse. I guess there will need to be clever calculations with models to prevent the ground levels becoming wind tunnels (we have plenty in London – Tottenham Court Road for example). Plant trees at ground level.
And the retail model for many shps and cafes would need to be different from before to encourage footfall at all levels; as it is the right level of footfall that keeps an area safe and commerically sucessful.
I agree with you RoseMary, one of the main issues would be foot traffic for retail, retail in the city was struggling even before these earthquakes. But I really like the idea though.
With Christchurch’s beautiful sunsets this could create a really magical city. I fully support the idea of rebuilding Christchurch in a unique and sustainable way.
Love this idea!! What an amazing concept.
I think this is a great idea guys. It has a lot of advantages. I have always been one for closing the central city off to car traffic but this is much better. It keeps everyone happy. Pedestrians are away from cars but cars still have access to the CBD. And I don’t think there’s a single person who would mind the central city being a greener space.
While you’re at it, I’d like to put in that it has been a major design flaw in Christchurch’s traffic ways that cycling tracks are part of the road (this is also an issue outside the CBD). Cyclists should have a dedicated track as part of the sidewalk as this way cyclists don’t get in the way of cars and busses and there is a smaller risk of being overrun.
Good luck with this project! It’s in all of our interests that it succeeds! Let’s get something positive out of this mess and make Christchurch a better city than it was before!
We live not far from ‘Bracknell’ in the UK. It was a ‘pop-up’ city that was erected in a hurry to house people after the war.
Today, it’s horrific. All of the buildings have aged badly due to their rushed box like design. The demographics have declined in a similar way, now making Bracknell the sort of town that people avoid.
If Christchurch is to recover they need to balance the need for quick building of infrastructure with the long term sustainability of keeping those ‘pop-up’ buildings from turning the inner city into a dead zone.
The big advantage of this is that cost efficient box buildings would support a concept that would not age nearly as quickly as pure buildings would.
Top idea!
Great thinking. Let’s make sure it is not strangled by some bureaucratic committee…
Looks great, I think go for it!!
Love it! Please include masses of right of way cycle tracks like in Amsterdam so that it is super easy and safe to get around without having to compete with cars.
Terrific to see some creative and forward-looking thoughts to rebuild our city. The low rise will make people feel much safer, and it a very positive way to re-invigorate Christchurch and make the city and beautiful centre a safe and welcoming place to attract businesses, shoppers and visitors back.
Great idea!! Not suprising to hear it comes from an innovator who designed a innovative product featured in time magazine. I certainly hope that Chch takes these ideas seriously and requests your input and the the opinions of the citizens of chch when rebuilding our city. To date it seems the new laws passed to ‘move quickly on items of safety’ have proved to be nothing more than a dictatorship and I fear the rebuild will commence in much the same vein : (
Great idea lets create something unique while there is an opportunity
Wow, what a great idea, I was talking about this sort idea a couple of weeks ago with my friend from Sumner. Christchurch does have the opportunity to become one of the worlds most visited cities and I think this will be a great idea to start from. Well done!
What an awesome idea! Would love to see Christchurch rebuilt in this way.
Fantastic idea. The pictures look great.
I love this idea, and it’s fantastic to see so much thoughtful response to it.
The thing I’ve been worrying about most in rebuilding post-quake Christchurch is how the city will get back the character that was in areas like the High Street precinct – the lanes, the locally owned shops and cafes tucked away between main streets to be discovered – I think there’s potential for this split-level idea to include those pedestrian lanes and courtyards below “garden level”, maybe paved with heritage bricks. Being so flat, the city doesn’t have natural “pockets” for communities to form, and I loved that Christchurch had really started to make something of its alleys in the last decade – it would be great to keep that part of the city’s character alive in a way that is safe and comfortable.
I also think some of Hundertwasser’s manifestos have some interesting philosophical, environmental and aesthetic ideas – as well as drawing on a little known (?) part of New Zealand’s more recent heritage. (http://bit.ly/hv50vZ, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser )
I’m in complete agreement with this proposal. Only a couple of days before the February 22nd quake, I was in the square and noticed that it did not capture the essence of the garden city, with paving covering virtually the entire expanse, and stretching all the way to the buildings. It would be nice to have lawn and trees, maybe even create an inner-city park for native flora and fauna. And perhaps we need to question whether rebuilding in much of the east is a sensible move. I would like to see some areas returned to their original state – wetlands and estuaries. I’m sounding like a greeny at the moment.
This is a brilliant idea, that could be so unique to Christchurch and supports the garden city concept. I would love to see this happen.
This is an amazing idea! What a beautiful city we would be!
This is such a brilliant example of forward thinking. So many reasons spring to mind why this is a good idea so I hope hope it gets widespread support not just from the people, but from the bureaucrats too.
I had an idea that lead me to be thinking of something along these lines myself so I’m very excited to see someone like minded getting heard and creating the vision of our future in the city. I have started a facebook group with the proposal that each of the victims who lost their lives should be honoured with living memorials in the form of trees, at the least we need to replace the 80 trees felled in Hagley Park right?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_185949414783772&ap=1
Although I have to acknowledge that weather could be an issue. I think this could be encorporating with gardens on the ground as well.
Love it!!!! Please, please, please let the people in charge of these decisions have some vision and positive thought instead of all the reasons why it can’t be done.
I like this concept. It offers great opportunities for public transport, cycling and parks! Green roofs will do a great job insulating buildings, while help creating a new, truly sustainable Christchurch.
What an amazing, inovative idea! Understandably there are weather issues but that can be worked around….we’d just have to don the umbrellas like wellingtonians! This is just what Chch needs to pull the tourists back in and I’d even brave the city again if I had something nice to go to ;0)
Keep up the good work and I really hope the council gets on board and supports it…..would love to know Bob Parkers thoughts….
How would the buildings below stay leak proof long term?
This is a great idea, I hope it gets enough interest!
Great idea in principle,although the weight of the roof tops must be carefully considered.
And I think too,any building must be as eco friendly as possible – e.g. humus composting toilets where possible,solar power where possible.
And since its to be a largely ‘walking around’ city,might it not be useful to (as far as possible) have all banks,supermarkets etc. etc. in one street? I’m thinking mostly of those with small children,elderly people. And what about wheelchair access to the roof tops – will there be lifts? And if so,what happens in the event of another quake?
If these things can be safely overcome,then I’d love to see this go ahead. It could be brilliant,a stunning ‘rise from the ashes’ for Christchurch.
I do love the innovative approach to this , it is great . For me personally one of the attractions of ChCh CDB at present is that apart from the Moorhouse Ave overbridge and the occasional basement car park it has a pretty much ” on one ground level “and working upward feel about it and I don’t see the need to change that
What excites me more is the forum by which these ideas are shared and commented on by so many so quickly . From the comfort of home we can view and digest all of the ideas from the talented people we have so easily . These are exciting times . I would call upon the Govt with the emergency powers that they have to fast track a tweaking of the planning laws/resource consent to give these “people power” forums good weight in the planning process . Hopefully this could make the process so much more efficient, yet inclusive and enjoyable for everyone .
Great idea, it is real good to see and hear people like you are thinking about how we can make a new and different place here in Chch. I would like to see it so different that, as you say, people will talk about it and want to come here to see it. Out of this event we can have a very new and wonderful place to live. Keep it up.
Great stuff. Now get your visionary goggles out and consider easements within and connecting buildings for services (say a 2m x 2m duct network) – power, water, sewage, gas, communications (fiber) and even some form of light parcel delivery to each building. Analyze what you those delivery vehicles have been dropping off in the CBD – one 5kg package this street – one the next. A very simple and not too expensive CBD conveyor system (think airport baggage handling systems) with a central secure drop off point in each building would dramatically reduce CBD traffic volumes. A central drop off center for each CBD block (or perhaps several blocks) and packages with RFID tags to direct the packages and to then notify business owners when a delivery is made (perishables). The system would be future proofed and serviced because it would be easy to access.
Very interesting idea worth exploring
Love the idea!
What about…
1. A climbing wall going up the side up some buildings to the top
2. Integrate a slide somewhere as part of a kids playground from level 4 to ground
Would those big trees have enough depth to put down their roots?
It would be awesome to see some grass/trees in the old ‘square’ on ground floor level too.
Damn awesome work guys.
Wow…. just simply wow…
For some unknown reason this makes me think of the ‘tube system’ a lot of older department stores used to have for sending money and documents within their stores (think they may have been gas operated). Anyway, recall some old brass tubes in some of the older places. Ballentynes may even have used it.
Anyway, what a beautiful concept – keep up the fantastic work !!
I would see this idea as more of a rooftop “garden” than rooftop forest. Large trees will add massive weights on certain parts of the roof which would I imagine would make it a lot more complex to engineer. Secondly a large root system of a tree may literally grow through a waterproof membrane that is trying to keep the roof from leaking..
Another worry is if pedestrians are banished to the rooftops, does that mean cars will get to rule the streets with no peds in the way? Doesn’t make for a nice experience when you get back to earth, unless youre in a car.
Definitely an interesting concept, although not one that I think would be very easy to undertake. I think the gardens would have to be potted or in raised trenches however, especially any trees. Large tree roots could crack through the roofs of the buildings and damage the structural integrity.
The idea of walking around the city without touching the ground is pretty awesome.
And I suppose there is that rooftop zoo in central Sydney. That was odd.
I think this is an awesome idea
but would buildings be able to support the weight of dirt, grass and trees? wouldn’t it compromise the buildings structural stability by putting so much weight on it? it looks amazing though, like something out of a futuristic movie
Great idea but if past events are anything to go by then Bob the Rebuilder and his developer buddies will build something crap without proper public consultation. Or some bright spark will think it would revitalise the CBD to have a highway running through the middle. However I love your idea and think it would be fantastic and allow a positive opportunity for the city for the future to arise out of such a tragic event. Very creative and would make the city special.
I like the idea, love the old looking latticework but not the glass behind it. These are the kind of concepts we need for our city, even if they seem unreachable at the moment because of cost, there needs to be big dreams put out there. People need to not be so conservative and think outside the box and not be scared to try new things. Well done on creating this wondeful concept.
This is a fantastic idea. This would put Christchurch on the international tourist map and generate a lot of tourism business.
Beautiful concept, and of course like any concept the devil will be in the details. I just think that it is important to remember that in major disasters our reliance on technology is a hurdle. At the heart of it all is that no power = no technological gadgets. Sometimes I feel that the future looks increasingly low-tech, at least then the ability to continue to operate is maintained. But hey, I may just be a closet luddite!
But it’s so wonderful that the conversation for Canterbury is alive and very much active. Power to the visionaries.
A few years ago I used a concept like this for Christchurch in a near-future Cyberpunk role-playing game setting: with restricted space to build and increasing population density, people took to using rooftops as “victory gardens” for growing food, and generating power with photovoltaic plastics on the walls. Some areas were devoted to large-scale vertical farming.
While 2070s commerce had become more decentralised and often virtualised, today’s CBD was still the “cultural precinct” for arts, entertainment and tourism. Most pedestrians in the area moved around on skywalks engineered to flex with the buildings if they moved, and some of the city’s original heritage buildings were preserved and viewable below, with augmented reality tour experiences capable of showing them in their heyday.
Y’know, a lot of those ideas aren’t sounding all that fanciful anymore.
What do people think of having Shweebs running alongside the skyways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJMSHWLAShc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN2Q-QlNLdw&feature=related
I love seeing this concept being discussed and the awesome and intelligent responses here, and I am sure we will see much more of this quality of ideas coming forward over the foreseeable future.
Personally, I would love to see the reserves and gardens and walkways in the city, but I am less excited about them being elevated. having been in the city in our 4th floor office, in a building that is likely to be demolished, I (and many others) am very conscious of the need to accept that this earth is going to move again, probably many times in our future, and we need to come up with solutions that incorporate the reality.
It is not in fact the earthquake itself that has caused most loss of life, but the structures we have built on top of the land. The idea of being on an aerial walkway at the time of a future quake, is not something that fills me with confidence – just as my friends in LA have a completely understandable and ongoing fear of driving over motorway bridges.
Whatever our plans for the central city are, I would like to see some focus on flexible, agile structures that very much focus on people first, before egos. If we go back to the first concepts of communities and villages, the central space was always the town market …. something that draws business people and visitors alike together. Creating something like this in our city centre …. perhaps a little like the Victoria Markets in Melbourne, but with our own unique take on it, opens up tremendous opportunity.
You want people to be in the central city, allow them to feel safe, and provide the sorts of things that will draw them in ….. a buzzing, dynamic space that changes constantly or with the seasons, that could have live entertainment year round, has low overheads for many of our displaced business people, provides sources of income for those able to grow and produce and make goods to sell.
As for the businesses, why not allow them to relocate to the suburban hubs so that people can find homes closer to their work … taking our business parks further … and providing fabulous public transport systems that link everyone together. there is no sound reason to pile businesses on top of each other in structures that are little more than monuments to greed and ego.
so great to see a space where we can talk about what we want for the city. i think embracing rooftop gardens is a great idea – for aesthetic reasons as well as the huge potential for cbd community gardens that produce food. would love to see something like this happen.
I love the ideas and would love to see further information from structural engineers that the load-bearing flat roofs are (within budgetary constraints) feasible.
The city of Chicago has started a project on greening roof tops, starting with their own City Hall. (http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/greeninitiatives/greenroofs/images/GuidetoRooftopGardening_v2.pdf). They estimate 50% extra cost in roofing.
They also seem to say that for heavily greened area you would need load bearing capability of between 80-150 lbs per sq foot. This seems like a lot, but guess they’re talking of four to five feet of soil. I guess you also need some additional lee-way in case of heavy snow??
Not every roof needs to be a lush field, of course!… courtyards and potted plants, with cafe’s and walkways will all add to the variety of a rooftop oasis.
What a fantastic concept!
It would be great if the Avon and Hagley Park are left as they are and the rooftop park integrates into them.
The elevated design allows for a sunken entertainment area. You could have buildings on all sides and seats leading down like an amphitheatre to a central entertainment area for concerts and sport matches.
To overcome some safety problems, there could be a small emergency services centre on the park somewhere. The idea of police getting around on bikes is fantastic, and rickshaws (aka tuk-tuks) could be used as ambulances, with all the medical supplies in the back. I love the idea of having higher buildings looking out over the park.
I think Cathedral Square should be the centre of it all, but it should also envelop the Avon River.
If the buildings are only 1-2 stories, there is no need to provide extra sunlight to the ground level – it already gets through the gaps between buildings. So long as you keep the main streets as they are and build bridges over the top of them, there would be just as much sunlight on the ground level as there is usually.
But, anyway, great idea and keep it up the brainstorming!
This is the best idea I have seen, and the first really positive forward thinking concept that could be the future for Christchurch. Ideas like this could really bring back and engage Cantabrians into building a new modern world leading city.
Why not use future sustainable techniques and ideas that have already been tried on smaller scales and demonstrated real results, to rebuild Christchurch as the city of the future. Something that could bring real passion and rejuvenate the city.
Something like this could even entice me and many others back from Australia.
This is a great idea. I for one, have no desire to go into any high rise buildings in the future. Now to convince the developers and the council.
What a pack of loonies! There are some absolutely unavoidable reasons this stupid idea can never get off the starting blocks. Not just my opinion. They’re as real as day & night. So try to be at least a little realistic in your fantasizing.
(no point in me spelling out what the stoppers are. If you don’t see them already, you’re beyond it)
Christchurch needs realism now, more than ever. Not the idle daydreams of loonies.
If you actually have reasons for why it cant work for heavens sake say so -0r refrain from being being unneccessarily negative.
Given that this sort of thing HAS been done before, I suspect that you dont actually know yourself what would stop it being done.
We need constructive ideas at the moment so either put up or shut up.
I am no urban planner or engineer but I love the forward oriented, blue sky thinking.
Now if we just marry in digital cloud-based business models to further decrease the land-based footprint, devolve workspaces to smaller pods/work from home and flexible combos, include social, cultural, hospo and boutique shopping precincts/’quartiers’ and we have a whole new garden-city world.
Yes to monorails/electric mini-shuttles, cycles and pedestrian traffic/travelators etc. Parking in centres around the outside fringes?
Fantastic response to dinosaur city-planning thinking.
Saw the plans for the ‘Garden city’ couldnt help but remind me of the city in the film ‘Logans Run’. Do you plan on having the population euthanised when they reach the age of 30
. Its a nice idea (the concept of the city that is – not euthanising people!) but i cant see it happening. One thing for certain is the present crop of politicians will want to Rebuild something quick and cheaply as possible. Besides, people came to christchurch for the history and heritage, thats soon to be all gone. I fear Christchurch will become bland and boring like so many other ‘modern’ cities, there just wont be the money to do anything fancy and the city will be rebuilt peacemeal. As for me, i want to see the heritage saved which probably puts me in the minority here. Ill probably leave Christchurch and leave you to build the city you want (im over 30 so very worried!) Good luck with the idea anyway.
It amazes me the number of knockers that come out of the woodwork when an exciting concept is put out for discussion. The concept is not entirely new but Christchurch built in the concept outlined with light rail, cycleways, cafes walkways and all the other would make Christchurch such a beautiful place to live and be in. It is known as the Garden City so lets make it that way.
This is a beautiful concept, vibrant, exciting, workable and cost effective from all accounts. Levels built on quakepads with all the ideas on offer would entice me back into a city I did my level best previously to keep out of.
Go for it Cantabs, and make no excuses as to why we cannot host the finals and semi-finals of the next RWC here in NZ in 2031.
Interesting ideas! I think it’s important that the city be rebuilt with some sort of overall plan/structure to it. We should make the most of this distaster, try and improve our city instead of just rebuilding it quickly and randomly.
I hope other people agree.
Goodluck getting the go ahead.
There is no problem with high rises, look at Tokyo they had
a mag 9 and their buildings just swayed from side to side.
the point being we need to build high-rise they way japan do.
not one building in Tokyo had issues. so why just assume us kiwis
cant accomplish what japan can.
high rises define a city.
Sarah
Yes high rises can be made safe but and this design allows for them but in the short term it is very unlikely many will be built because they will struggle for tenants (that will be the reality for a while at least I suspect).
But they are not built on swamp!
Interesting ideas, no place for indigenous species (or any sign of Ngai Tahu – not a single Maori carving in sight) as that would be entirley inapporpriate in such an artificial environment, but plenty of space for water consuming grass that presumably will be genetically modified so that it does not grow higher than a specified few inches – thereby reducing demand for unsustainable lawn mowers.
I would prefer to see farm animals and an attmept to develop urban agriculture, slow food etc, on these landscapes.
But on whose property? To achieve these designs would require completely overriding property rights and a lot of money being invested in land use of low return to the investor (but possibly high return to the community). So don’t expect it to be built with insurance money – that will be used to get to the new heart of the city – Addington/Riccarton where the new CBD has already become establsihed de facto. Central government is already in the hole so unlikey to be able to stump up with the money, especially if it plans to build irrigation schemes, motorways to Auckland etc as well. Even if it is buolt it will be a very small area because of its cost and we already have Hagley Park so why would we need it?
Will central government override property rights? Well they have made no bones about “deconstructiong” buildings without landowners being informed so they clearly have no major concerns about doing what they see as being in the best interests of the company (sorry, country). In their approach to the RMA they have demonstrated their willingness to override those rights still further as well as those of the environment. But the money is not there so no returns, either politically or financially unless there are kick backs form the builidng company.
Who would build it? Central Governemnt privatised the old Ministry of Works so there is also a question over the competence to do it – but no doubt there are many in the private sector who would jump at the chance to be paid by central and local government to build it. Perhaps we could require that only local firms are awarded contracts? Hardly likely!
The propoal also has the sense of elitism – who would get to use these spaces? How is this going to help the people from the Eastern suburbs?
It is great that people are enjoying doing Sim City thinking, we need that – but even Sim City has some reality checks built into it – I do not see those here at all. If it was a greenfields development – like Pagasus Bay development – or in a country with little sense of individual property rights, or where there is a dictatorship (eg Myanmar) then it would have a chance – but this is Christchurch, New Zealand – try to focus on something achievable please and not waste folks time and energy in computer games.
Like the idea of more green in the city. But high rises are not unsafe if they are designed for earthquakes – look at Tokyo. Most of the Chch killer buildings were old and/or badly designed or built – look at all the 1 and 2 storey old brick churches & shops that collapsed in the suburbs.
Just as a matter of truth .. the “killer” buildings … were not old or badly designed / built. CTV? PGC?
Lets not knock the old buildings. Fact is, anything that withstood the amount of ground movement that our buildings did, did more than it was designed to do.
I love this concept – and the likely hurdles notwithstanding, feel that there is actually a real chance for something like this to be done.
It has been made very clear that the rights of individual building owners are secondary atm … and much as I hate that, the centralised approach could actually be an advantage in terms of incorporating a more global rebuilding approach.
I feel there is a place within this for both the retention of some of the old Christchurch – and for some modern high rise buildings which, regardless of how people feel about them right now, will be needed – at the least for economic reasons.
Hi,
Great I think this is such an interesting idea of how to make the “garden city” something that becomes the platforms for humanistic experiences within a city. As a new way to bring this history of Christchurch into the 21st century. I am currently researching into a project that it based on city branding, how it works and how Christchurch would rebrand itself to project a real sense of community and cohesion towards both inward and outward communities. How a brand has become more than a visual identity but has to have a strong story about what the place will offer and what it stands for.
Any thoughts?
A lovely idea, and very workable I am sure, in other places. The engineering aspect of the added weight can be overcome. Have you factored in the considerable resource-hungry nature of grass? It is an inappropriate monoculture plant in the Canterbury climate, where rainfall is inadequate to maintain it year round. Any gardener can tell you that during summer your rooftop lawns will not benefit from the life-saving partial shade that ground-level grass gets from buildings and trees. It will die in the first nor’west, unless you are suggesting we adopt the fashionable dairy-in-a-desert model…
Interesting parallel to Upper Toronto architecture/art project
“Upper Toronto is an ambitious performance project to design and propose to the public the building of a new Toronto above the current one: the CN restaurant might be ground level, or imagine a city sitting on top of Bay Street towers. When Upper Toronto is finished, all residents of Lower Toronto will move up and Lower Toronto transformed into some combination of intentional ruin, national park, and farmland.
This is, of course, a terrible idea. But it is a terrible idea that might let us imagine and perform possibilities and questions about what kind of world we might want if we could start fresh.”
I have a problem with the central government taking over private property in this way to create public space. It is not a simple idea as it’s author claims and will create huge implications concerning the law and who is responsible for what in and around the public space. If you think CCC really has the right to take over private roof space go ahead and praise this idea but it’s not the kind of city I would like to live in.
We don’t have enough pedestrians to walk the streets of Chch, let alone the roofs. This city is sparsely populated resulting in many public spaces being relatively empty and as a result boring. This encourages people to drive instead of walking the streets of the city and concentrate most retail activities in the inner city malls (another unique anomaly of Chch). Instead of having more public spaces we need to improve the quality of the existing ones; take examples from the great cities of the world. Until we have 4 million inhabitants in Chch this idea is a pie in sky (literally). In due course when the technology is affordable all these empty roofs can be used to harvest energy from the sun.
Hi yes looks great, but what happens when an earthquake hits while crossing a bridge?
The concept looks fantastic, but is probably more suitable for a highly populated city where land area is scarce and where there is no (known) fault line. What could possibly be more suitable and safer would be focusing on a unique building style that free flows into beautiful surrounding gardends. These buildings could be bungalo-like (perhaps with a NZ/Pacific flavour) with sides that open into central garden areas – so that people can quickly get out of the building if necessary. Perhaps Pacific Island or traditional Japanese (not Tokoyo style!) architecture could be looked at. Beautiful gardens could be designed around these low-level bungalos.
Right, Caleb. I would like to see avenues (wide streets) with plenty of lawn, gardens and trees. Of course individual buildings can have their roof-gardens and use them for their staff or for public access. I imagine the underground streams released with low walls and lawn surrounds. I would like the central CBD car-free, with bike stands for use inside the area, just like Copenhagen. Some can be for hire with buggies on the back. good luck with the planning. Something beautiful will come!
Love this idea so much! Like most people here, I’m gutted that so much heritage has been destroyed but am equally so excited at how much creative thinking is going on. My two cents:
1. Would be lovely to dedicate sections of the roof gardens to each person who died on Feb 22nd, with input from their loved ones on what could be planted there. A personal, lasting memorial.
2. The buildings below could easily have lightweight, reproduction heritage facades bolted onto to EQ proof construction. See Hebel Lightweight concrete panels – can be easily carved to mimic what existed before.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring designs with us – keep up the good work!
Having read through most of the comments so far I feel a need to add my bit.
Firstly I think this is amazing and would now feel quite disapponted and sad if it wasnt adopted.
In respect to some comments already made I say this, coming from the UK I have seen many towns and Cities die off due to poor or no develoment and the growth of out of town malls. The same was happening to Christchurch in my opinion. Many Christchurch people did not use the City center at all and preferred to use the malls. A large proportion of the foot traffic by day was probably down to office workers and largely tourists. If the City is redeveloped to look just like another City then why would people come here for there holiday? Without the right plans the city is doomed.
In relation to comments about cost of rebuilding and rents and upkeep, pretty much all buildings in the CBD were power hungry, AC units full belt to cope with heat or cold blowing out there output through open doors of shops. Old buildings totally inefficient in heat retention or cooling. Green roofs will make buildings much cheaper to run over the life of the building, greedy lanlords who are out to make a quick killing should go forth and leave the CBD.
Also the comments about lack of space – just think back to how much of the CBD was really occupied? Vacant places everywhere, depressing areas where no one wanted to venture so no one opened up there. workshops, car lots, factories which would all actually be better off in retail parks further out take up lots of space which can and should be better utilised.
Then there is the road system, do we need so many in the central city? get rid of some and bring the buildings a little closer together, building design would still allow plenty of light down to street level.
It is time to think about the future in many more ways, reducing the outgoings for the buildings would allow the tenants to be more profitable, that way they may actually survive without ripping us all off for the products we buy. Low maintenance buildings would mean less outgoings for the building owners. Imagine if we all left our doors open all day at home yet ran the heater to keep it warm? there are unimaginable costs associated with this.
Make us a City we can be proud of and one that people will be scrambling to visit. For all our sakes, look at these designs and make a change for the future.
Some very exciting ideas suggested……A word to the Council……Follow these ideas up….
It seems the background engineering development work is already being done, there is clearly a move from “the people” to adopt this concept, the space is there already (has anyone seen how open the areas where buildings had been demolished from the September quake were?), there are work-arounds to every problem that has been raised so far, so Christchurch town planners, WHERE ARE YOU?
urban agriculture..
Few problems:
.1 So when another earthquake happens, how are you going to prevent the bridges that connect the rooftops from snapping and falling to the ground?
2. How are you going to keep attraction high during winter when the trees and flowers are dormant?
3. Your idea will create “private spots” perfect for trouble-makers do cause problems, how are you going to police this?
4. This will be a common place for lunch breaks and smoke breaks, how are you going to manage the rubbish, especially the cigarette butts?
Aesthetically speaking, I find your designs too boxy, not organic, I think this is a mistake, especially in this age where architects are trying to stay AWAY from doing box designs simply because it IS ugly.
I forgot to mention, this concept is new to New Zealand but not to many cities around the world – and in those cities the novelty wore off REALLY quickly; it’s not as amazing as you might think. I’m not against the idea, I just hope the council doesn’t make this the primary feature of the new city.
We should also look at introducing distributed solar and energy-efficient buildings. See http://www.pythagoras-solar.com/company/ for solar panel windows. These are going into the Sears tower in Chicago soon.