Albion Square wins 'Engaging Communities' award

Albion Square won the ‘Engaging Communities’ category of the biannual 2015 New Zealand Community Boards Best Practice Awards.

The certificate and trophy, recognising this achievement, were accepted by the Lyttelton-Mt Herbert Community Board during the New Zealand Community Board Conference held in May.

In awarding the ‘Engaging Communities’ category, judges were looking for examples where:

• Community Boards have employed innovative approaches to consultation,
• Community Boards have addressed a community concern by partnering with another agency,
• Projects and initiatives highlight good relationships between Boards and Māori and/or other ethnic organisations.

After Lyttelton was devastated by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the Christchurch City Council recognised the need for a permanent public space and bought the land where the Albion Hotel once stood, to transform into a community space. Together, the Council and community developed a concept plan for the multi-use civic space incorporating local landscape and heritage interpretation, art in public places, relocation of the cenotaph and tangata whenua values.

Following development of the concept plan, Boffa Miskell was engaged to provide landscape architectural services to develop the approved concept design, undertake the detailed design and oversee construction. Our landscape architects provided design leadership, with support from the Christchurch City Council project team.

Phil Millar, Boffa Miskell Project Landscape Architect said, "It was a pleasure working closely with the Christchurch City Council to help deliver one of the first post-earthquake public realm spaces in Christchurch. The resulting place for local gatherings and reflection will be treasured by locals and visitors to Lyttelton for decades to come.”

The outcome is a contemporary civic space that has brought to life a number of actions in the Lyttelton Master Plan. Albion Square is a great example of design collaboration between the Council and community, resulting in a well-used civic space. Albion Square was officially opened in November 2014.