If there was a working brief for redesigning post-quake Christchurch, Qb would have nailed it with their new High St location.
Once a “Dirty 30” building – a name given to earthquake-damaged buildings that were lying dormant in Christchurch and attracting more pigeons and vagrants than investment dollars - it’s now the shiniest new office block in the CBD.
“She was an absolute eyesore when we picked it up, pigeon s**t everywhere,” says one of the building’s owners.
Cantabrians will remember the location as the former Hunters and Collectors building and the neighbouring Cosmic Corner shop, though the facade is unrecognisable.
Built across the two landmark Christchurch sites, the South Island’s largest flexible workspace blends an ultra-modern office environment within a perfectly preserved shell of brick, timber and exposed columns. The design strides boldly into the future while thoughtfully reflecting the past.
It was a four-year passion project for friends and business partners Tom Harding, Mike Fisher and Alex Brennan.
“We didn’t have all the money in the world, so we had to do it in a way that we could finance it, and to do that, we had to do it in two stages. Stage one was refurbing the existing Hunters and Collectors building, getting that tenanted and then going again,” says Harding.
On either side of the building’s four storied central atrium are offices and break-out spaces that house small to medium-sized companies – with a penthouse suite that has room for a business of 40 or more staff.
From the third floor, the atrium gives the impression of a narrow street with offices having shallow balconies and doors that open out. The exposed brick and soft lighting enhance that outdoor illusion.
The ground floor reception feels like it’s only missing a concierge – it’s that much like a hotel lobby. That’s not by mistake.
“You hit the nail on the head there. That was sort of always the ambition to make the office space feel like a boutique hotel. This is probably the first one that we feel got closest to that brief in many ways,” says Mike Fisher.
Qb has six locations across Auckland and Christchurch – their latest is their most unique in an industry that is still in its infancy here.
“If you look at it in terms of the percentage of the market that is in this type of space, it is still very low, probably relative to other countries and global trends,” says Harding.
Qb High Street has maximised the space available to provide an environment that is aesthetically pleasing and utterly functional, from open and collaborative to completely private. Though the meeting pods may not suit the more claustrophobic workers.
The financially claustrophobic, however, might enjoy the unrestrictive terms.
“We’ve got companies that are 20 people and now can accommodate up to 50-person companies, but they don’t have to come in and sign a 10-year lease or a 5-year lease,” says Fisher.
“And they can walk in this afternoon and start operating. All they need is a laptop,” he adds.
Fisher describes the commercial space as “a turnkey product” that essentially turns “office leasing into a service-based model where you pay a subscription”.
The history lessons here are both obvious and subtle.
“All of the boardrooms that are bookable were named after the previous occupants of the building. Cosmic Corner, Hunters and Collectors, Echo Records,” says Fisher.
There’s also the Elephant Room – named after they saw an old photo of an elephant being walked down High Street.
Harding and Fisher are open about the amount of work that was required – and the disparity with what they’d anticipated.
“In the end it was a complete rebuild. When we acquired it, we thought we were probably going to come in and get away with doing a lot less work. As you go up, particularly on the top level, that’s where you see a lot of the original features. But yes, certainly some challenges and a lot of money to retain what came through the earthquakes,” says Fisher.
“We’ve done our best to expose as much as we can,” adds Harding.
Lead architect on the project and director at Architecture Studio, Richard McNeill, said this was one of the most technically challenging projects they had undertaken in the past two decades.
“From preserving parts of the original 1880s building to navigating tricky structural and seismic challenges, every part of it was unique,” said McNeill.
The result is a triumph for central Christchurch and a benchmark for the city’s last remaining “Dirty 30”.