Lyttelton Times Building
| Lyttelton Times Building | |
|---|---|
The façade of the Lyttelton Times Building in December 2008.
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| Alternative names | Base Backpackers |
| General information | |
| Type | Initially commercial, now hostel |
| Architectural style | Chicago School |
| Location | Cathedral Square, Christchurch Central City |
| Address | 56 Cathedral Square |
| Town or city | Christchurch |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°31′49″S 172°38′14″E / 43.5302°S 172.6373°E |
| Construction started | 1902 |
| Completed | 1904 |
| Demolished | 2011 |
| Client | Lyttelton Times |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Load bearing walls |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Sidney and Alfred Luttrell |
| Designated | 16-Dec-1994 |
| Reference no. | 7216 |
| References | |
| "Lyttelton Times Building". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. | |
The Lyttelton Times Building, last known as Base Backpackers, in 56 Cathedral Square, Christchurch Central City, was the last headquarters of the Lyttelton Times before its demise in 1935 as the then-oldest newspaper in New Zealand. The building in Chicago School architectural style was registered with New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage item, with the registration number 7216. The building's last use was as a backpackers' hostel and a restaurant. It was demolished following the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The Lyttelton Times was devised by the Canterbury Association as part of the planned settlement of Canterbury. After arrival in mid December 1850, the first edition of the newspaper was published on 11 January 1851. From its initial location in the port town, Lyttelton, the newspaper moved its headquarters to the larger market of Christchurch in 1863. Its main competitor, The Press, had established itself in Christchurch in 1861.
The site that the Lyttelton Times had occupied in Gloucester Street with an agency since the 1850s extended through to Cathedral Square. A two-storey wooden building was erected on the Cathedral Square frontage when the headquarters moved from Lyttelton. Further growth necessitated bigger premises, and what is now known as the Star Building was built on the Gloucester Street frontage in 1884. Growth continued, and Sidney and Alfred Luttrell were commissioned in 1902 to design a new building for the Cathedral Square frontage.
The Luttrell brothers had only recently come to Christchurch from Tasmania. The Lyttelton Times Building was their first major commission, and established them as architects and building contractors. They used the Chicago School architectural style for the design, and that was the first time that this was applied by them in New Zealand. While they employed the appearance of the façade of this style, they did not employ the structural system of an internal steel frame, but they relied on load bearing walls. With their later commissions, Manchester Courts in Christchurch and Consultancy House in Dunedin, both for the New Zealand Express Company, they came closer to using the structural design of the Chicago School. Construction of the Lyttelton Times Building started in ca 1902, and the building was finished in 1904. At the time, it was the tallest building in Cathedral Square besides the tower of ChristChurch Cathedral itself.
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