Christchurch car park set for art deco office transformation

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Developer Brooksfield has finalised plans for a six-storey art deco office building on Gloucester St, between the Heartland House building and Cathedral Junction.

A central Christchurch car park is set to make way for a stylish office building.

Residential developer Brooksfield has owned the Gloucester St property, currently leased as a Wilson car park, for two years while working on other projects, but director Vincent Holloway says plans are under way to transform it into an office building.

Holloway said the design draws inspiration from art deco buildings designed by Cecil Wood in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Public Trust Office on Oxford Tce and the former design and arts school on Worcester St. He said the style remains popular for its sleek geometric shapes and arched windows.

Brooksfield director Vincent Holloway expects construction to begin at the end of this year or start of next year.

“We’re leaning into that, everything will be architecturally correct as if it was in art deco style.”

The six-storey office building will have a 370m² footprint with hospitality on the ground floor, a car park at the back, and office floors that can be split in two, each floor with a bathroom and kitchen.

It will be built with a concrete facade and steel frame.

The office building takes inspiration from art deco buildings around Christchurch, including the Public Trust Office on Oxford Tce.

Concept designs are complete and the plans are now going through the necessary engineering and consent processes, he said, with physical work set to begin at the end of this year or start of next year.

Holloway said the building would enhance the block’s appeal, complementing the area’s hospitality offerings, the colourful Spanish façades of New Regent St and the nearby Isaac Theatre Royal.

“That little pocket is going to be really busy and happening.”

He said he was drawn to the site as it had “an amazing view down New Regent St, which you get the benefit of whether working there, or if you’re walking [south] down New Regent St. It will be a real focal point.”

To take advantage of being at the end of New Regent St, the office building will be centred directly opposite, he said.

The designs were unveiled on social media on Monday, and Holloway said potential tenants had already expressed interest in the building, although there were 'no confirmed leases at the moment'.

The building will go on this Gloucester St site, currently a car park, between the Heartland Building and Cathedral Junction - opposite New Regent St.

“Around the city, there’s a growing sentiment of not just being in a building all glass, air-conditioned, windows don’t open, stuck in a hovel with no fresh air for eight hours a day.”

The façade will feature opening steel-framed windows, although Holloway said it would be up to tenants whether they were used.

“You spend … half your waking life in the office, so you want to make sure it’s as comfortable as your house.”