Recasting the Foundry

WORDS Kim Newth PHOTOS Matt Finlay

For almost a decade after the 2011 earthquakes, The Foundry served as a ‘temporary’ Canterbury University student bar and events venue. It has since been deconstructed, upcycled and repurposed for a new life as a community and church facility in Burwood.

Built as a social lifeboat for students whose original bar was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake, The Foundry building hosted numerous gigs and functions through the post-quake recovery years. With the opening of new student hub Haere-roa in July 2019, the old Foundry was no longer needed. Once the lights went off for the last time, it was time to say goodbye to the Ilam Road carpark bar: the floor and roof were cut into six-metre sections, with toilets and the former kitchen stored as two separate modules.

A year later, All Saints Anglican Church in Burwood was hunting for options to update its community facilities and hit upon the deconstructed Foundry as a perfect opportunity. “It was a good fit for our site and our vision to develop a new, multi-purpose community facility,” says Daniel McMullan, All Saints’ project manager. “It made financial sense to reuse materials rather than building as new from scratch and this approach also aligned with our church ethos of caring for the environment.”

Saving building timber like this, with all its embedded carbon, is a laudable choice and it feels right for a building called The Foundry – conjuring images of scrap metal recast for new purposes – to be recycled, adapted and used again.

In May, The Foundry reopened as a flexible modern facility, designed for community use with a large hall, a children’s area/therapy space, a dance studio, and a meeting room. A standout feature in the new children’s area is a beautiful indoor tree hut, formed out of recycled structural timbers.

“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback and enquiries,” says Daniel. “A dance group is already using the dance studio, birthdays are being held here, and we have different community groups using it.”

Paul Wilkins, Director of PXA Architects, who was engaged to adapt the original Warren and Mahoney design for its new site and purpose, says the new building shares a certain ambience with the original, but is not a replica. Internal spaces have changed, the overall length is slightly shorter and, instead of facing inwards as it once did, the new building looks out over the Ōtākaro/Avon River.

Working with church and architect to pull the project together was Higgs Construction as building partner with Richards Consulting Engineers on board as project engineers.

“Our job was to make sure the original timber materials would meet current design standards for both strength and durability,” explains Chris Burrell-Smith, lead engineer with Richards Consulting Engineers. The team at Hartnell Coolheat worked through the challenges of adapting existing plant and ducting and delivered a mix of exposed and concealed services using ventilation fans, heat recovery, and heat pumps. Outdoor plant was placed in a considered way to mitigate noise and visual disturbance for neighbouring properties.

Putting the modified building together, using as much of the original Foundry materials as possible while also ensuring compliance with current Building Code requirements, was a challenging task for all involved.

“We had a set of materials to work with, but when the stacks were pulled apart for inspection it was found some things were missing or were in a poor condition,” says Paul. “So, the building evolved to be a mix of recycled and some new components, such as new roofing.”

It also transpired that The Foundry had not quite been constructed as originally designed and that meant having to make new connections and adjustments during construction. The final result is inspiring.

“It was a great project to be involved in,” says Daniel Freeman, Director of Higgs Construction.

“Our team, led onsite by Kris Jolly, did an outstanding job sorting and reassembling the existing building components to bring the building back to life in a new form. It’s proof that recycled materials can still deliver a finished facility that meets structural standards and looks amazing.”

Community fundraising helped support the project, which was also backed by Christchurch City Council and the Rātā Foundation.

pxa.co.nz | higgsconstruction.co.nz