The first cardboard tubes are going up on what will be Christchurch's new cardboard cathedral.
The first of almost 100, 20m long cylinders were supposed to be erected yesterday, but high winds delayed construction.
Reverend Craig Dixon, the cathedral's marketing and development manager, says the columns will give a real look into the transitional building’s future.
“This is when we start to see what the building will look like for people who visit. In a number of ways it's been hard yacka, and it's continuing,” he says.
Workers hope to attach at least six of the columns a day.
Construction first began in July last year and was projected to be completed by last November.
While constant delays have pushed that date back, Church Property Trustee Gavin Holley says the new build will be worth waiting for.
“It's very, very special. We've been waiting, there's been a lot of work done off site and we've been waiting to get to a point where we have some significant progress on this building.”
The tubes themselves have been a big issue – the architect, world renowned Shigro Ban, has planned for them to support the whole structure but no cardboard could be found that was strong enough to do the job.
Laminated structural timber beams are now hidden inside each tube, with the only cardboard element being the outside cladding.
3 News
source: newshub archive
