Former Christchurch Library

A major cultural institution the Canterbury Public Library was on the corner of Hereford Street and Cambridge Terrace, over one hundred years.

*Red brick Gothic:*Most of the Gothic Revival buildings that put their decisive stamp on the character of central Christchurch are built of grey stone, mostly Port Hills basalt. But Christchurch architects also designed Gothic buildings to be built in red brick- as many Gothic Revival buildings in Britain were.

The city's red brick Gothic churches are all in the suburbs. In the inner city, red brick Gothic was represented by a former public library and a former school.

William Armson designed a number of commercial buildings in the Venetian Gothic style. He used the same style for a brick building for the Canterbury public Library. When the Library outgrew Armson's original building , Collins and Harman designed a more highly decorated red brick Gothic Revival buiiding which was erecred in the early 2Oth century. After the Canterbury Public Library moved to a new building
in 1982, the old library was converted to commercial use. It subsequently was demolished following the Christchurch Earthquakes.

Text adapted from John Wilson