Christchurch Town HallChristchurch Town Hall

Documenting one of the largest heritage restorations ever undertaken in Christchurch has been a long and satisfying process for local photographer Olivia Spencer-Bower. She was hired by Hawkins Construction to photograph and record time-lapse video footage of the massive $167 million project to repair and restore the earthquake damaged Christchurch Town Hall, starting almost five years ago in September 2015. The Town Hall reopened to the public in February 2019 after it had been repaired and strengthened to 100 per cent of the New Building Standard. The James Hay Theatre, part of the Town Hall complex, opened three months later. For three-and-a-half years Spencer-Bower visited the Town Hall each month to take photos of developments on the site, and two time-lapse cameras took photos every 10 minutes during construction hours. Late last year she finished editing the thousands of images into an impressive 10 minute video which can be seen here for the first time. Being involved in such a huge project has been an incredible opportunity, she says. “I feel really proud to be part of a project of this significance. Knowing these images will have an enduring quality is the most exciting thing for me. Looking back in 40 or 50 or even 100 years, people are going to be able to see what our city has been through.” Her work is inspired by black and white photos of the 1930s New York construction boom and says her aim was to capture an equally vivid snapshot of an emotionally powerful place and time.