The Observatory Hotel

Set on a 2.25 hectare central city block, the Christchurch Arts Centre, Te Matatiki Toi Ora, is one of New Zealand’s most significant clusters of heritage buildings.

This massive $290m staged restoration programme  was the largest of its type in the world at the time, andhas immaculately restored the heritage features of  the collection of distinctive Gothic Revival buildings, while modernising infrastructure to support the next phase of utilisation – transforming the proposition for both tenants and the visiting public..

In 2014, RCP was appointed to provide strategic advice and end-to-end project management across the entire programme of works, including the Observatory Hotel, a highly innovative adaptive reuse heritage project. Work saw the former physics building transformed into a 33-room boutique hotel and the associated observatory tower restored to working order.

The Observatory Hotel presented a chance to modernise the Arts Centre’s offering and complement other activities within the precinct. RCP managed the feasibility and business case phase, which considered a range of potential typologies in addition to the recommended hotel option. The notion of a purely commercial space within the Arts Centre was a departure from historical use but its purpose was clear: to generate a steady revenue stream that would better enable the Arts Centre Trust Board to pursue its raison d'être – promote arts and culture.

RCP developed a unique execution plan to establish the new framework and processes needed to achieve the complex undertaking. RCP also led development of the commercial structure for the Hotel, managed the operator procurement process as well as the design, construction, and handover of the physical works.