Christchurch City Hotel
The Christchurch City Hotel is a 2,665m², five-storey building located on a 450m² site on Colombo Street. It features 46 rooms ranging from studios to suites, ground-floor retail space, and a rooftop bar with city views. Its façade, with round and square windows, adds character to the north and south frontages.
The hotel, situated in Christchurch’s city centre, overlooks the Cathedral and aims to offer high-quality accommodation while contributing to the city's regeneration. Kensway Consultants led the project, bringing expertise in high-end commercial developments to ensure successful delivery.
Kensway was instrumental in transforming the Christchurch City Hotel project from a cost-prohibitive concept into a financially viable success by proactively collaborating with consultants and contractors to reduce costs. Leveraging our extensive networks and experience, Kensway selected a mix of design and build services contractors for Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), bringing valuable high-end commercial project experience to the design process. Through a rigorous value engineering process, Kensway achieved approximately 24% cost savings from the initial concepts. Our approach involved challenging consultants throughout the design phase to ensure the best outcomes for the project, adopting the "slow down to speed up" strategy which streamlined construction.
Kensway's leadership was crucial in overcoming challenges like Covid-19 disruptions and unforeseen ground conditions, extending the project by only three months.
Despite the unprecedented challenges, the Christchurch City Hotel was completed successfully, reflecting a vision for a bold and modern return to the city's tourism and commercial hub. The project was delivered through close collaboration and transparency, ensuring that client expectations were met and exceeded regarding quality and high specification.
Awards
2024 New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA) Excellence Awards - Project Management award
2024 New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association (NZCBIA) Excellence Awards - Collaboration award
