South Library and Service Centre

We're rebuilding the earthquake-damaged South Library and customer services building, Te Kete Wānanga o wai Mōkihi, in Beckenham.

The South Library and Service Centre building was badly damaged in the 2010/2011 earthquakes. While we've been exploring options for a permanent solution, we’ve used temporary strengthening to make the facility safe to occupy.

Councillors have supported a recommendation from the Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board and decided on a full rebuild instead of a repair, and Christchurch City Council will now proceed full steam ahead with detailed design.

The concept design [PDF, 13 MB] is based on the same floor area as the current facility, and provides for the same services – library, customer services, learning centre, café, governance spaces and meeting rooms.

The layout of the facility is updated with improvements to how the space can be used and to provide more flexibility for future use.

As part of the concept design for the building, we’ve also developed a master plan for the landscape and outdoor areas [PDF, 2.3 MB]. This plan is designed to work alongside the Mid-Heathcote River/Ōpawaho Linear Park Masterplan [PDF, 17 MB].

The concept design carefully considers the building’s energy efficiency and the total carbon impact of the project over the life cycle of the building. The design allows for solar panels and EV charging to be included in the future. You can leave feedback on the design here.

The rebuild project is estimated to cost $32.75 million. The Council currently has $22.6million of funding put aside for the South Library and Service Centre building, so will need to confirm extra funding for the project as part of next year’s Long-Term Plan 2024–2034 process, at which point we'll confirm a timeline for construction.

In the meantime, the building will remain open to the public as normal.