Open ChCh: Christchurch Boy's High School - Deans Buildings

Meeting points
Deans Buildings: by foot or car from Bruce’s Lane accessed beside 51 Straven Road: parking is available here.

It is easy to move northwards from the old farm steadings across the bridge to the new Caddick Caldwell Buildings if you are doing both parts of this tour.

Caddick-Caldwell Buildings: by foot – meet in the CBHS quadrangle – accessed north of 39 Kahu Road. Parking available along Kahu Road or Riccarton Bush. Controlled tours starting 12 pm, 1 pm and 2 pm.

Christchurch Boys’ High School will offer an exploration of its past-present building stock on land once owned by Ngāi Tūāhuriri iwi.

Three guides will be present: Dr Bruce Harding, a former English master and now Curator-Archivist; Ms Jenny Lowe, the Headmaster’s EA; and Mr Charles Collins, a practitioner at Athfield Architects, who will warmly welcome you to this historic area of land behind the School’s esteemed 1920s Guthrie & Guthrie Main Block.

Visitors will be guided to view a clutch of old and very new buildings which demonstrate the school’s unofficial motto: “a modern school with a rich past”. Jenny will introduce visitors through the site of the oldest working farm in Canterbury, which now comprises a uniform store, meeting room and archivist’s office, in utilitarian brick buildings built by the Deans family and which date from 1881-1883. These were restored to new use by Fulton Ross Architects (Contractor: Watts and Hughes), after the earthquakes and a foiled arson attack. They are now used to sell uniforms and to protect the school’s memory-stock.

Continue on for the second part of this tour – guided tours of the new Caddick and Caldwell Buildings at 12, 1 & 2pm.

North across the Otakaro/Avon bridge are the School’s newly opened and expansive Caddick and Caldwell blocks designed by Athfield Architects (Contractors: Southbase Construction).

Charles and Bruce will lead visitors, at intervals, through the exciting and spacious interiors of these two blue buildings. We suggest that visitors starting there arrive via the 39 Kahu Road entrance by the small cottage and kindly wait in the Waharoa quadrangle.

The new Caddick Block replaces a 1951 wooden structure named in honour of Alf Caddick, a former English master and fifth Headmaster (1941-1950), and which now houses music, drama and humanities subjects. It contains adaptable glass-walled classrooms designed to accommodate ever-evolving teaching pedagogies, a Library, formal study spaces, meeting rooms, and abuts the new Assembly Hall. Across the quad to the west is the Caldwell Block, which replaces a 1974 Hall & McKenzie cinderblock structure (1974) redolent of its era. Caldwell 2 contains state-of-the-art science labs and commemorates the school’s sixth Headmaster, Charles Caldwell (1959-1976). Charles Collins will explain the design concepts for both buildings to those assembling in the quadrangle while Bruce will illuminate the school’s history and provide insight into the historical narratives within both blocks.

Our three guides look forward to welcoming all who seek to view this mixture of the old and the new. Open Christchurch visitors should allow 30-40 minutes for a site visit.

Join Open Christchurch on 15 & 16 May. With 46 open buildings, two guided central city walks and dozens of special activities (from children’s workshops to performance as well as expert talks and tours), Open Christchurch 2021 is a celebration of our architecture. Discover new spaces or get up close to buildings you love, for free.