Peterborough Centre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Peterborough Centre |
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The Peterborough Centre with damage from the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
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| Former names | Teachers' College Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Education building |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Location | corner Peterborough and Montreal Streets |
| Address | 25 Peterborough Street |
| Town or city | Christchurch |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°31′30″S 172°37′47″E / 43.52500°S 172.62972°E |
| Completed | 1930 |
| Client | Canterbury Education Board |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | George Penlington |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Stewart Ross |
| Designated: | 26 November 1981 |
| Reference #: | 1914 |
The Peterborough Centre is a cool old building in Christchurch, New Zealand. It used to be called the Teachers' College Building. You can find it at the corner of Peterborough and Montreal Streets. This building is special because it's a Category II heritage building. This means it's important to protect its history. Sadly, it got a lot of damage from the big 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The repairs cost a lot of money.
A Look Back in Time
Building the College
The Peterborough Centre was finished in 1930. It was first built to be the Christchurch Teachers’ Training College. Imagine a place where people learned how to become teachers! George Penlington, an architect, designed it. He used a style called Gothic Revival. This style looks a bit like old castles or churches. It has pointed arches and fancy stone details.
Even though it was new, the ground it was built on was a bit tricky. It had a lot of peat, which is like soft, spongy soil. Because of this, the building started to sink and crack within a year.
The training college worked closely with the nearby Christchurch Normal School. This school was a place where trainee teachers could watch experienced teachers at work. It helped them learn how to teach. Trainee teachers stayed at the Normal School until the new Teachers' College Building was ready for them.
From College to Apartments
Later on, the building changed its purpose. It was turned into apartments, which are homes for people. Stewart Ross was the architect who helped change the school into the Peterborough apartments. Robert Douglas Brown was the person who developed the project.
As part of this change, an underground car park was built in the courtyard. This was a big project! The plans for dividing the building into separate apartments were made in 1998.
The 2011 Earthquake
The Peterborough Centre was badly damaged in the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Fixing the building was estimated to cost about NZ$12 million. Luckily, the building was insured for NZ$12.3 million. Most of the owners wanted to rebuild, so this important heritage building could be saved.
After the earthquake, buildings were given different coloured stickers. The front entrance of the Peterborough Centre got a "red sticker." This meant no one could go inside because it was too dangerous. Most of the individual apartments got "yellow stickers." This meant people could go in, but with limited access.
A lot of the damage happened because of something called liquefaction. This is when the ground acts like a liquid during an earthquake. The underground car park actually floated upwards because the soil underneath it turned soft and mushy.
