CBD green build unveiled for city

Property Developer Anthony Leighs plans to build a $30 million, high-end office block with green credentials on a landmark site in the Christchurch CBD. Leighs is developing the corner site at 211 High St through his company, Portus Property, on the site of the former Excelsior Hotel that was destroyed in the earthquakes.

Covering four levels, the curved glass-facaded building will house Leighs Construction and a local law firm, with one office level remaining, together with ground-floor hospitality and retail.

The building will have 23 basement car parks and a gross floor area of 4518m2 on 925m2 of land.

Architect Szymon Gozdzikowski of Ignite said the building would be constructed with timber beams and columns, with timber panels in the flooring and feature energy-efficient services and an open atrium with feature staircase and full-height green wall. ‘‘The main idea behind the design was to create a clean fabric-like curved glass facade wrapping the upper office levels. This will help define the urban corner and show the innovative timber structure,’’ Gozdzikowski said.

The development is aiming for a high Nabers rating certification once completed.

Leighs said the building was an opportunity for the company to ‘‘walk the talk’’ and create a special building that was good for both the occupants and the environment.

‘‘We want to create a high quality and responsible addition to the Christchurch landscape and a great building for the future,’’ Leighs said. ‘‘When we considered this, and thinking about future generations, a mass timber building with low embodied carbon was a very easy choice. Cement and concrete manufacturing is estimated to produce about 8% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, whereas timber naturally sequesters carbon, even after the tree has been cut down.

‘‘There is no doubt that building occupiers now, and certainly more so in the future, are going to be very focused on the impact of their buildings on the environment,’’ Leighs said.

Scheduled for completion in April 2024, The build will start to address the acute shortage of office space available in the central city, Colliers leasing broker Brynn Burrows said.

‘‘There is a record shortage of space in the inner city, and we are experiencing significant demand from tenants wanting to be back in the CBD. But there is so little space available,’’ Burrows said.

Burrows said a full office floor of 832m2 on level 2 was available, and 200m2 on the first floor. The ground floor was split into a larger 410m2 hospitality tenancy and two retails tenancies of 83m2 and 87m2 respectively, although these could be combined.

‘‘We envisage it will act as a link between the CBD, High St precinct and the Canterbury Multi Use Arena Te Kaha.’’