Office block signifies a fresh start for city

LIZ MCDONALD

Construction of a 13-storey building to replace BNZ House in Cathedral Square could begin as early as this year.

Cristo Ltd, the family consortium that owns the site, has planned a building of a similar size and style to replace the one damaged in the earthquakes.

Construction will depend on securing tenant interest and insurance cover.

Marketing agents Jonathan Lyttle and Ryan Geddes said the rents would be "top end".

The BNZ had been the building's main tenant, but the bank had been looking for new premises for its Christchurch headquarters before the quakes. It now leases space in the Canterbury Technology Park in Burnside.

Demolition of the Cathedral Square building has started.

The new building, designed by Christchurch architects Warren and Mahoney, would be 50 metres high and feature glass walls and the same green Welsh slate as the existing structure. It will include 11,000 square metres of floor space, including a penthouse.

Cristo said construction could begin this year and finish by 2015.

Structural engineer John Hare, of Holmes Consulting, said the building might have deep piles and a steel frame, as well as seismic dampers left visible behind glass walls.

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Office block signifies a fresh start for city