The Guthrey Centre at 126 Cashel Street,

Christchurch Central City Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue ...

, originally the offices of Andersons Foundry and later 'Andersons Ltd, was a Category I heritage building registered by the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. The building was demolished following severe damage from the February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

History

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

(1820–1897) was one of the original "Pilgrims" of Christchurch, having arrived on in 1850. He was a blacksmith and in February 1852, he purchased section 877 for £12 in Cashel Street. This is the site where what would become the Guthrey Centre was to be built. He later purchased land on the north side of Cashel Street to build his family home, which he named ''Inveresk'' after his

place of birth The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a cou ...

. The business expanded and by 1857, Anderson had added a foundry to his blacksmith shop. The production facilities were at the back of the site towards Lichfield Street. In 1866, with his new gained wealth, he could send his sons John and Andrew to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

for schooling at the highly regarded

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...

. Both started their working career in Scotland, with John as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

in Glasgow, and Andrew as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

in Edinburgh. Upon their respective returns to New Zealand in 1873 and 1876, they worked in their father's business. In 1881, Anderson retired from the company, passing management on to John and Andrew. From small beginnings, the business had grown to cover all sorts of engineering. Machinery was produced that would process the region's products. The company expanded after Anderson's retirement and became a major player in the production of railway hardware, road and rail bridges. A Lyttelton works was opened in 1887 to build and maintain vessels. The firm built gold dredges and the steel lighthouse for

Farewell Spit Farewell Spit ( mi, Onetahua) is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, South Island of New Zealand. It runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point. Farewell Spit is a legally protected Nature Reserve ...

(1895–1896). The Anderson's office building was constructed around 1881. It was to hold the offices for the production facilities, and offered shops facing Cashel Street. The building was demolished following severe damage from the February

. The Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Building Trust Board had tried to save the building and offered a grant to the owner, Peter Guthrey, son of former mayor

Ron Guthrey Albert Ronald Guthrey (15 January 1916 – 8 September 2008) was a New Zealand local politician. He served as a Christchurch City Councillor for 22 years before being elected Mayor of Christchurch. He was a World War II veteran and he and his ...

. However, the "costs had not stacked up", said Guthrey.

Architecture

The building was designed by William Armson (1832/3 – 1883). From 1870 until his death, he was the dominant commercial architect in Christchurch. Andersons Foundry was a fine example of

Venetian Renaissance architecture Venetian Renaissance architecture began rather later than in Florence, not really before the 1480s, and throughout the period mostly relied on architects imported from elsewhere in Italy. The city was very rich during the period, and prone to fire ...

. The building was significant due to the fine façade and because few of Armson's buildings had survived until today.

Heritage listing and awards

The Guthrey Centre was listed as a Category I heritage building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on 5 September 1985. It received an award from the New Zealand Institute of Architecture four years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrey Centre Commercial buildings completed in 1881 Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Canterbury, New Zealand Buildings and structures in Christchurch Christchurch Central City Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake 1880s architecture in New Zealand 1881 establishments in New Zealand