Cathedral Grammar School, Junior School

Cathedral Grammar School, one of the oldest schools in Christchurch, lost a number of historic buildings in the earthquakes. Tezuka Architects (Tokyo) and Andrew Barrie Lab (Auckland) won a competition for rebuilding the school with a master plan arranged around a central circulation route that will allow the school to subtract and add buildings over the medium and long term without loss of character or amenity.
Generating a series of intimate gardens, courtyards and cloisters, the buildings are characterised by a heavy prefabricated structure of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) assembled on site. For the junior school, a roof terrace (to be exited by a slide) allows small children to feel like giants, offering an unimpeded view through cherry trees and across the green expanse of the neighbouring park. (text: Kathy Waghorn, Future Islands catalogue)

Location:
Christchurch

Practice:
Tezuka Architects (Tokyo) and Andrew Barrie Lab

Project team:
Midori Taki, Wtanya Chanvitan, Takashi Ohira, Mariel Lozano
and Mitsuhiro Matsuura (Tezuka Architects)
with Andrew Barrie, Nathan Swaney, WooMin Lee, Ben Calis and
Julian Rennie (Andrew Barrie Lab)

Status:
Under construction