Municipal Electricity Department (MED) Building

Situated on the corner of Manchester and Armagh Streets, the administration building was opened on 6 May 1939 by the then Minister of Public Works, The Honourable R Semple. The total finished cost including furnishings and office equipment was 65,000.

The structural design, plans and specifications were prepared by Council staff with V J Hean as architect and R A Campbell (also responsible for the structural design of Millers building, now the Civic Offices) as Consulting Engineer. Of rigid steel frame construction, the floor slabs and walls are of reinforced concrete. The columns between the showroom windows are faced with black granite as are the steps and walls of the vestibule. The interiors of the show room and first floor and vestibules on other floors are panelled to a height of 7ft in Australian Ribbon Walnut with cappings and skirtings of Southland Beech.

The external appearance of the building is designed on horizontal lines, the centre of each frontage being broken by a double pier surmounted by a flagstaff. The corner of the building is rounded in the Moderne style with the glass and sashes also being curved which dominates the external appearance of the building. The building consists of four levels. On 3 April 1987, a major extension on the Manchester Street frontage was opened by the former Mayor, Sir Hamish Hay.

The building was used by Southpower and Orion. In 2003 Ultralab South, an educational and technological research centre, moved into the building.

Sources

This was originally derived from the Christchurch City Council handbook of 1998.