A empty site in Bexley where a house once stood. The foundations for the house can still be seen. A sign reading, 'Danger construction site' hangs on the security fence that surrounds the area.
A photograph of a blossoming tree and letterbox at 450 Oxford Terrace. In the background is the house at the same address.
A photograph of the house at 390 Oxford Terrace. Grass and other weeds have grown up through the cracks between the pavers in front.
A photograph of the house at 58 Bangor Street. A green sticker on the door indicates that it has been inspected and is safe to enter.
A photograph of the house at 58 Bangor Street. A green sticker on the door indicates that it has been inspected and is safe to enter.
A photograph of the house at 396 Oxford Terrace. The hedges at the front have begun to overgrow. Plastic sheeting is lying over the path.
Sitting on the concrete in front of what was my model railway room - a single car garage at the rear of our house in Pacific Park. Reason it is here - one of the houses behind my old house is going to be trucked out. See previous photo.
A photograph of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been recently mowed but the dead grass has not been removed. One of the windows has been boarded up with plywood. A yellow sticker on the door indicates that access to the house is restricted. The photographer comments, "The lawn was mowed as part of the maintenance project on red-zoned properties".
A video telling the story of a Dallington house which was built by Bill Cooper in 1957. The house was demolished last month as part of the clearance of the Christchurch residential red zone. The story of the house is used to illustrate what is happening in many Christchurch suburbs. The video also includes the story of a sea elephant that lived in the Avon River in the 1970s and 1980s.
A photograph of Majestic House on the corner of Manchester Street and Lichfield Street. The building has been fenced off and shipping containers are stacked on the road to the left, reinforcing the facade of the neighbouring building.
A photograph of Clayton Prest from WikiHouse, taken during a demonstration and hands-on workshop. The workshop, titled Go Ahead... Make Your Space, was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of one side of the house at 432 Oxford Terrace. The hedges in front have begun to overgrow and weeds are growing in between the concrete pavers.
A photograph of the house at 432 Oxford Terrace. Much of the garden has overgrown. A yellow sticker on the front door indicates that access is restricted.
A photograph of the house at 432 Oxford Terrace. Much of the garden has overgrown. A yellow sticker on the front door indicates that access is restricted.
A photograph of the front porch of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A sign on the porch reads, "Avon Loop Harvest Market".
A photograph of the former site of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. Murphy's house was demolished after her land was zoned Red. Grass has grown over the site.
A photograph of the kitchen in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. Graffiti has been scrawled on the walls to the left and right.
A photograph of the house at 9 Rees Street. The end of a Weet-Bix cereal box has been placed over the mail slot in the front door.
A photograph of the overgrown garden of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "That empty clothesline reflects the emptiness of the house and surrounding properties".
The Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010-2011, in particular the 4th September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, produced severe and widespread liquefaction in Christchurch and surrounding areas. The scale of the liquefaction was unprecedented, and caused extensive damage to a variety of man-made structures, including residential houses. Around 20,000 residential houses suffered serious damage as a direct result of the effects of liquefaction, and this resulted in approximately 7000 houses in the worst-hit areas being abandoned. Despite the good performance of light timber-framed houses under the inertial loads of the earthquake, these structures could not withstand the large loads and deformations associated with liquefaction, resulting in significant damage. The key structural component of houses subjected to liquefaction effects was found to be their foundations, as these are in direct contact with the ground. The performance of house foundations directly influenced the performance of the structure as a whole. Because of this, and due to the lack of research in this area, it was decided to investigate the performance of houses and in particular their foundations when subjected to the effects of liquefaction. The data from the inspections of approximately 500 houses conducted by a University of Canterbury summer research team following the 4th September 2010 earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Christchurch were analysed to determine the general performance of residential houses when subjected to high liquefaction loads. This was followed by the detailed inspection of around 170 houses with four different foundation types common to Christchurch and New Zealand: Concrete perimeter with short piers constructed to NZS3604, concrete slab-on-grade also to NZS3604, RibRaft slabs designed by Firth Industries and driven pile foundations. With a focus on foundations, floor levels and slopes were measured, and the damage to all areas of the house and property were recorded. Seven invasive inspections were also conducted on houses being demolished, to examine in more detail the deformation modes and the causes of damage in severely affected houses. The simplified modelling of concrete perimeter sections subjected to a variety of liquefaction-related scenarios was also performed, to examine the comparative performance of foundations built in different periods, and the loads generated under various bearing loss and lateral spreading cases. It was found that the level of foundation damage is directly related to the level of liquefaction experienced, and that foundation damage and liquefaction severity in turn influence the performance of the superstructure. Concrete perimeter foundations were found to have performed most poorly, suffering high local floor slopes and being likely to require foundation repairs even when liquefaction was low enough that no surface ejecta was seen. This was due to their weak, flexible foundation structure, which cannot withstand liquefaction loads without deforming. The vulnerability of concrete perimeter foundations was confirmed through modelling. Slab-on-grade foundations performed better, and were unlikely to require repairs at low levels of liquefaction. Ribraft and piled foundations performed the best, with repairs unlikely up to moderate levels of liquefaction. However, all foundation types were susceptible to significant damage at higher levels of liquefaction, with maximum differential settlements of 474mm, 202mm, 182mm and 250mm found for concrete perimeter, slab-on-grade, ribraft and piled foundations respectively when subjected to significant lateral spreading, the most severe loading scenario caused by liquefaction. It was found through the analysis of the data that the type of exterior wall cladding, either heavy or light, and the number of storeys, did not affect the performance of foundations. This was also shown through modelling for concrete perimeter foundations, and is due to the increased foundation strengths provided for heavily cladded and two-storey houses. Heavy roof claddings were found to increase the demands on foundations, worsening their performance. Pre-1930 concrete perimeter foundations were also found to be very vulnerable to damage under liquefaction loads, due to their weak and brittle construction.
Scaffolding around Riccarton House, which is under restoration.
Scaffolding around Riccarton House, which is under restoration.
Te Waipounamu House, seen from Re:Start mall.
The Mack tractor unit with "half a house" ready to depart in the middle of the night, when the roads are quiet. But where is this house heading too?
A photograph of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been mowed, but the dead grass has not been removed. One of the windows has been boarded up with plywood. A yellow sticker on the door indicates that the access to the house is restricted. The number 386 has been spray-painted on the footpath in front of the house. The photographer comments, "The lawn was mowed as part of the maintenance project on red-zoned properties. The numbers were spray-painted in front of all the properties in the Avon Loop in order to keep track of the property number after the mailboxes were lost or removed".
An entry from Deborah Fitchett's blog for 13 June 2013, posted to Dreamwidth. The entry is titled, "In which the house next door is gone, and other stories".The entry was downloaded on 16 April 2015.
An entry from Deborah Fitchett's blog for 13 June 2013, posted to Livejournal. The entry is titled, "In which the house next door is gone, and other stories".The entry was downloaded on 13 April 2015.
A photograph of a model WikiHouse building being assembled in the CPSA building at CPIT. The demonstration and hands-on workshop, titled Go Ahead... Make Your Space, was part of FESTA 2013.
A photograph of the former site of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. Murphy's house was demolished after her land was zoned Red. Grass has grown over the site.
A photograph of a WikiHouse building being assembled in the CPSA building at CPIT. The demonstration and hands-on workshop, titled Go Ahead... Make Your Space, was part of FESTA 2013.