Lightly does it: Alternative architecture for Christchurch mooted
By Siobhan Leathley,
Photo: Word of Mouth Media NZ
New ways to rebuild Christchurch will be floated at an international workshop next month.
The workshop is being organised by Peterborough Village, the first community village inside Christchurch’s quake-battered CBD, where most blocks have scarcely one building, providing an unprecedented opportunity for an innovative redevelopment.
The main aim of the workshop is to find the best designs for cost-effective, lightweight, quake-resilient structures to sit lightly on the land as an alternative to the standard heavy structures traditionally used.
Architecture experts have been invited to apply alternative design concepts, which have been researched and tested.
“We want the village to be a cutting edge, innovative hub for redevelopment with the focus on affordable resilience and sustainability," says village spokesperson Di Lucas.
"We understand there are options for lightweight, cheaper but robust structures to sit lightly on the soft land as alternatives to the standard heavy structures being proposed on deep vertical piles.
’’With gravels buried five to 20 metres below ground level, it is appropriate that other methods are explored."
The workshop will also take advantage of
Canterbury University’s engineering department, which is noted for
research into lightweight, resilient structures.
"It is high time their techniques were applied locally."
Comments
Martijn Verhoeven
Take a look at this. The perfect solution!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78FIxvMM-OU
Stacey Farrell
prefabnz.com would be a great information source for Peterborough Village. They are already investigating alternative solutions for NZ that are well insulated and lightweight.
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