Creating a campus of world class learning facilities for one of Christchurch’s leading education providers
School for the future
St Margaret’s College suffered significant damage from the Canterbury earthquakes, with over 80% of the building stock requiring replacement or major repair. We managed the earthquake programme of works and concurrently lead the development and delivery of a forward-thinking master plan to take the school into the future.
A deep understanding
Our initial work focused on making the environment safe and getting the school back up and running by organising demolitions, temporary repairs and temporary facilities. We worked with the College Board and management to develop a brief for future use of the site. This involved working through international and national best practice models for educational delivery and applying it to the College’s business and educational vision.
We then led the development of a long term site master plan which formed the basis for a staged programme of work to redevelop the site. Now complete, the campus includes new or refurbished classrooms, boarding facilities, library, gymnasium, chapel and auditorium facilities, a pool, sports facilities and site services.
Points of interest
- Engaged after the September 2010 earthquake, we were able to guide the school through a period of significant and ongoing seismic activity, enabling the school to remain open as much as possible with minimal lost teaching days.
- Working in the heart of a school environment the programme of works needed to proceed quickly, with minimal disruption, and have extremely clearly defined and safe site boundaries.
- By partnering with highly experienced education architects, the school now has modern teaching environments and buildings that can be modified for future use without affecting the structural performance of the building.
