Registry Building (Former)

Arts Centre of Christchurch, CHRISTCHURCH

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The Registry building was erected in 1916 to house the administration staff of Canterbury College. Before then the administration staff worked in the Clock Tower building. The building, on the corner of Montreal and Worcester Streets was designed by the architectural firm, Collins and Harman. In style it is broadly Gothic, and therefore is visually connected to the other older, stone buildings of the University. However, the Registry building has less decorative features than the others, which can be read in two ways. Firstly that the Gothic Revival was waning by the time of World War I, or alternatively that the lack of decorative features reflects the utilitarian role of this building. A small extension was added to the northwest in 1926, in a similar style to the original building. Later additions were made in 1957 and 1965 Of the first of these, Canta, the student newspaper, commented that it was 'something between a pumping station, the Waipipi Ladies' Rest Room and the offices of the Karangahape Rabbit Board'. When the University completed their move to the suburb of Ilam in the early 1970s this building was threatened with demolition. The University planned to sell off those buildings at the eastern end of the block (including the Registry building) in order to be able to fund the preservation of the rest, which were seen as more historically significant. A number of organisations protested against this plan, including the New Zealand Historic Places Trust/Pouhere Taonga, and in 1974 a feasibility study on the use of the entire block as an Arts Centre was completed. This study proposed that the Registry building be leased as rooms for medical or legal practices. The idea of preserving the entire complex was accepted and The Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust was formally established in December 1978. Since then the former Registry building has inhabited by the Family Planning Association. The former Registry building is significant as part of the previous University of Canterbury complex, now the Arts Centre. Although simplified in design it relates to the Gothic style of the other earlier stone buildings. Registries play an important, if often unacknowledged, role within the life of any university and therefore this building is significant as part of the history of the University of Canterbury. The building is also associated with George Mason, the registrar who inaugurated a significant policy of building expansion during the First World War, and his insistence on a separate building for the administration staff means that this building can be viewed as an expression of his administrative power.

Registry Building (Former), Arts Centre, Christchurch. Image courtesy of the Arts Centre | 01/07/2013 | The Arts Centre
Registry Building (Former), Arts Centre, Christchurch. Image courtesy of the Arts Centre | 15/03/2017 | The Arts Centre
Registry Building (Former), Arts Centre, Christchurch | Melanie Lovell-Smith | 01/02/2002 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7373

Date Entered

2nd February 1997

Date of Effect

2nd February 1997

City/District Council

Christchurch City

Region

Canterbury Region

Legal description

part of Town Sec 419 & 421, City of Christchurch

Location Description

Located on the corner of Montreal Street and Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch.

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