Rebuild architect, Greg Young
Architect Greg Young of Young Architects has been tasked with leading the Dorset Street Flats rebuild project. Greg is uniquely placed, in having worked for both the flats original architects (Warren & Mahoney) and engineers (Holmes Consulting), before forming his own company in 2003.
Here, Greg answers some questions about taking on such an important project.
What has been your experience of living and working in Christchurch post-earthquake?
Living and working in Christchurch is very challenging; it is an absolute roller coaster ride of being surrounded by the despair of broken buildings, lives, and infrastructure, intermingled with the rebirth of the city and new opportunities.
Dorset Street Flats are “A” category listed by Heritage New Zealand, they are protected in the City Plan, they make the top ten modernist buildings on the DOCOMOMO NZ register. What qualifies you to be taking on repairing such a respected and highly-regarded building?
I have the relatively unique background as an architect with structural engineering experience. I have worked for both the original engineers, and the original architects. The Dorset Street Flats are a building that expresses the structure as part of the architecture, and vice versa - to work them, in my opinion, you need to understand both, to appreciate the synergy.
What was your awareness of the Dorset Street Flats prior to becoming involved in this project?
Every architect in Christchurch is very aware of the influence of The Dorset Street Flats on the architectural fabric of our city, and in the evolution of a style of architecture so dominant and influential on the built environment in Christchurch. I am no different, and they have had strong influences on my own work.
This is a complex job. How would you break down the phases of what needs to be done.
The way to deal with complex jobs is often to look at the big picture. This is particularly important in this case. In order to understand what has happened to the building, you need to understand what it has undergone, and also what could have happened. Looking at earthquake damage on a room by room basis will not give you an understanding of the damage to the building, but only to the damage on visible items. Once you understand the big picture, you can look at parts of the picture.
How does the work plan look right now?
Firstly, we’re currently working through capturing exactly how they were built, and documenting that. This also highlights to us areas that will require special attention in the detailed documentation and specification phase - for example, there are curved concrete blocks that have been used in the landscaping that we can't replace.
Secondly, while we're documenting the "as built", we're also meeting with construction experts, and repair experts, evaluating different proposals for the repairs on how they will affect the existing structure, how they will affect the aesthetics, what risk is involved, and what changes maybe needed. This includes checking examples of techniques on previously completed projects.
And thirdly, once we're comfortable with the construction techniques and materials proposed, we'll discuss with heritage consultants, the Christchurch City Council heritage team, Heritage New Zealand, Sir Miles Warren, and all of the owners, before completing the construction documentation, ready for building consent and tender.
What has been the most challenging part so far?
The most challenging part so far has been navigating the processes of being one tooth on a large insurance industry cog. There are many ways to repair the building, but most aren't appropriate for this very special building, and I have needed to be very aware of this as I've navigated through the initial contractual stages, and discussed options with the many different people involved, including insurance, construction, compliance, and heritage parties.
Any surprises?
The best surprise I've had so far is the project managers being so keen to do the right thing and ensure that this very special building is repaired to the best condition possible.
You have been involved with rebuild of the J.J. Connor Flats in Papanui Road, really a sister block from the same period of Sir Miles’ career. How has that project differed to Dorset Street Flats, and are there any learnings from one that can be applied to the other?
These flats are damaged beyond repair, and cannot be structurally upgraded sufficiently, so are being demolished, and rebuilt as closely as possible to the originals (upgraded structurally, acoustically, and thermally to comply with current code requirements). The demolition of the J.J. Connor Flats allow us to salvage imperial sized concrete blocks for use in the repairs of the Dorset Street Flats, if required.
The J.J. Connor flats have taught me two main lessons.
Firstly, a critical factor to getting the best result is to have the support of all of the individual owners.
Secondly, it would be impossible to replicate The Dorset Street Flats with today's compliance requirements. It has been extremely difficult both architecturally and structurally on the J.J. Connor flats to replicate the detailing and proportions that the originals had.
Architect Greg Young of Young Architects has been tasked with leading the Dorset Street Flats rebuild project. Greg is uniquely placed, in having worked for both the flats original architects (Warren & Mahoney) and engineers (Holmes Consulting), before forming his own company in 2003.
Here, Greg answers some questions about taking on such an important project.
What has been your experience of living and working in Christchurch post-earthquake?
Living and working in Christchurch is very challenging; it is an absolute roller coaster ride of being surrounded by the despair of broken buildings, lives, and infrastructure, intermingled with the rebirth of the city and new opportunities.
Dorset Street Flats are “A” category listed by Heritage New Zealand, they are protected in the City Plan, they make the top ten modernist buildings on the DOCOMOMO NZ register. What qualifies you to be taking on repairing such a respected and highly-regarded building?
I have the relatively unique background as an architect with structural engineering experience. I have worked for both the original engineers, and the original architects. The Dorset Street Flats are a building that expresses the structure as part of the architecture, and vice versa - to work them, in my opinion, you need to understand both, to appreciate the synergy.
What was your awareness of the Dorset Street Flats prior to becoming involved in this project?
Every architect in Christchurch is very aware of the influence of The Dorset Street Flats on the architectural fabric of our city, and in the evolution of a style of architecture so dominant and influential on the built environment in Christchurch. I am no different, and they have had strong influences on my own work.
This is a complex job. How would you break down the phases of what needs to be done.
The way to deal with complex jobs is often to look at the big picture. This is particularly important in this case. In order to understand what has happened to the building, you need to understand what it has undergone, and also what could have happened. Looking at earthquake damage on a room by room basis will not give you an understanding of the damage to the building, but only to the damage on visible items. Once you understand the big picture, you can look at parts of the picture.
How does the work plan look right now?
Firstly, we’re currently working through capturing exactly how they were built, and documenting that. This also highlights to us areas that will require special attention in the detailed documentation and specification phase - for example, there are curved concrete blocks that have been used in the landscaping that we can't replace.
Secondly, while we're documenting the "as built", we're also meeting with construction experts, and repair experts, evaluating different proposals for the repairs on how they will affect the existing structure, how they will affect the aesthetics, what risk is involved, and what changes maybe needed. This includes checking examples of techniques on previously completed projects.
And thirdly, once we're comfortable with the construction techniques and materials proposed, we'll discuss with heritage consultants, the Christchurch City Council heritage team, Heritage New Zealand, Sir Miles Warren, and all of the owners, before completing the construction documentation, ready for building consent and tender.
What has been the most challenging part so far?
The most challenging part so far has been navigating the processes of being one tooth on a large insurance industry cog. There are many ways to repair the building, but most aren't appropriate for this very special building, and I have needed to be very aware of this as I've navigated through the initial contractual stages, and discussed options with the many different people involved, including insurance, construction, compliance, and heritage parties.
Any surprises?
The best surprise I've had so far is the project managers being so keen to do the right thing and ensure that this very special building is repaired to the best condition possible.
You have been involved with rebuild of the J.J. Connor Flats in Papanui Road, really a sister block from the same period of Sir Miles’ career. How has that project differed to Dorset Street Flats, and are there any learnings from one that can be applied to the other?
These flats are damaged beyond repair, and cannot be structurally upgraded sufficiently, so are being demolished, and rebuilt as closely as possible to the originals (upgraded structurally, acoustically, and thermally to comply with current code requirements). The demolition of the J.J. Connor Flats allow us to salvage imperial sized concrete blocks for use in the repairs of the Dorset Street Flats, if required.
The J.J. Connor flats have taught me two main lessons.
Firstly, a critical factor to getting the best result is to have the support of all of the individual owners.
Secondly, it would be impossible to replicate The Dorset Street Flats with today's compliance requirements. It has been extremely difficult both architecturally and structurally on the J.J. Connor flats to replicate the detailing and proportions that the originals had.
6 owners, not all in Christchurch. How has it been dealing with a group of far flung parties?
It has been an absolute joy. All of the owners are passionate about the flats, and I get on extremely well with everyone - it makes my job an absolute pleasure.
You have met with Sir Miles Warren. What was his take on the project, and did he give you any advice?
Sir Miles stressed the simplicity of the flats. This is something that I will focus on with any changes we need to make. He also gave his support if required to shake his fist at people if needed - we'll keep that up our (or his) sleeve for now!
You have said yourself that this is a high profile job, and that the eyes of the architectural community are looking on closely. How much pressure is that?
Rather than call it pressure, I'd rather call it "focus". This repair is incredibly important to me, with great responsibility ... But when your everyday job is to design people's dreams, that is nothing new.
What are the next steps?
As I said, we’re currently working through big picture options for how to re-level the buildings, and the repercussions of that - once we have this worked out, the rest becomes much simpler. I'm also looking at the aesthetics of some of the strengthening requirements, before making any firm decisions.
28 August 2016
It has been an absolute joy. All of the owners are passionate about the flats, and I get on extremely well with everyone - it makes my job an absolute pleasure.
You have met with Sir Miles Warren. What was his take on the project, and did he give you any advice?
Sir Miles stressed the simplicity of the flats. This is something that I will focus on with any changes we need to make. He also gave his support if required to shake his fist at people if needed - we'll keep that up our (or his) sleeve for now!
You have said yourself that this is a high profile job, and that the eyes of the architectural community are looking on closely. How much pressure is that?
Rather than call it pressure, I'd rather call it "focus". This repair is incredibly important to me, with great responsibility ... But when your everyday job is to design people's dreams, that is nothing new.
What are the next steps?
As I said, we’re currently working through big picture options for how to re-level the buildings, and the repercussions of that - once we have this worked out, the rest becomes much simpler. I'm also looking at the aesthetics of some of the strengthening requirements, before making any firm decisions.
28 August 2016