Christchurch property developer Antony Gough tells the story about when he approached the City Council’s Urban Design Panel with his vision for The Terrace development.
On being told there was a fundamental error in his design he enquired as to its nature. Their reply – all the buildings in the proposal looked different.
“I had to say, ‘well I’m not a Westfield Mall, cream, windowless and inward looking – my buildings are all meant to look different – that’s the whole point about what we’re on about’.”
Antony, managing director of property development and investment company Hereford Holdings Ltd, says the easiest thing to do when designing a development is to just do a standard sort of build.
“Put the plans through a photocopier with each building a slightly different dimension but using the same finish.”
But that is not Antony Gough’s style and it certainly was not what The Terrace was all about; the first stage of which is a group of back-to-back hospitality buildings facing Oxford Terrace and Hereford Street.
Melbournesque laneways, with names like Oxford Lane and Little Oxford Lane, separate the buildings and, from Oxford Terrace, will lead to a yet to be built piazza, privately owned by Hereford Holdings.
Explaining his vision for hospitality buildings in The Terrace, Antony says – “Everything is quite different – they’re designed to be quite special and they’re designed to have longevity.
“I didn’t want people to say in two or three years time, ‘oh yes that’s the 2017 design’. “I wanted The Terrace to be striking, and so every building was intentionally built with a different surface finish on it.”
Antony’s brief to Auckland architectural firm Jasmax, was very broad while reflecting the design requirements of longevity and uniqueness.
One of the cladding recommendations that came back was COR-TEN®, a high quality steel product that rusts naturally on the surface over time.
Antony Gough’s brief to Jasmax architects for the Terrace centred on longevity and uniqueness.
Antony explains that COR-TEN® is a registered brand name in the same way that Toyota is the name of a car.
“Many people use what they call Corten – but it’s not actually the product COR-TEN® – there’s only one business that has used it in New Zealand and that is us – in that it’s folded and fabricated in England. Most people buy a sheet of steel and pop rivet it on or screw it on the side of the building and think that it’s the real thing.”
With another skin on the inside acting as the weatherproof membrane, the COR-TEN® product sits on ledges and rails on the outside – without the support of pop rivets or screws.
Weathering over time, the product will provide different shades and textures as the rusting effect intensifies and darkens – a very different look to the other buildings in The Terrace develoment, which includes the use of black aluminium and Acoya timber.
“We’re very happy with the product. One thing that we did with ours was to put a gutter right round the bottom of it so that any water running off the surface doesn’t drip down on the foot path and leave rusty marks. We’re the only people to have done that so we’re setting a benchmark that is far and away higher than you would normally see and we’ve used the real thing – folded in England.”
With only 50% of The Terrace Development completed, future stages will include a 420-bay car park off Hereford Street, which Antony hopes to have completed within the year.
“I’m talking to a couple of hoteliers and we’re looking at getting a hotel built on my Cashel Street lot of land – about 1000sqm of blank land between the Westpac building and what people sometimes know as the old Sony building. Then there is a sleeve on Hereford Street, which we haven’t decided what we’re going to do with yet.”
Having lived in Christchurch all his life, Antony is passionate about the city and its regeneration.
Of the development that he has been responsible for so far, he says it is hugely satisfying seeing it all come to fruition, even though it has taken longer than expected.
“I tend to want to run before I can walk. But at the end of the day we got there and we’re ending up with fantastic new city which is low height and getting character of its own.”
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
Crowds flock to The Terrace to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
