Harris House

An Art Deco office conversion in central Christchurch

In a city where the earthquakes removed many older character buildings, retaining Harris House mattered. The central Christchurch Art Deco building had already moved from industrial use to apartments when AO Architecture adapted it again, this time as commercial offices. The work retained the features that give Harris House its identity while resolving the structural, fire and other compliance requirements of the latest change of use.

Keeping the Art Deco character

The geometric façade, strong proportions and decorative detailing already gave the building a clear identity. We worked with those elements rather than introducing a new architectural language over them.

Inside, native timber floors and exposed roof trusses remain visible. You still read the age and previous life of the building as you move through the offices, even where new services and contemporary fittings have been introduced.

A building on its third life 

Harris House has changed use more than once. Its former apartments now provide the basis for a collection of individual office spaces, allowing much of the existing internal arrangement to keep working rather than starting again with an empty shell.

That gave the building another viable use, but it also triggered requirements that sit largely out of sight once the work is complete. Structural upgrades, fire compliance and the wider demands of the change of use had to be resolved alongside the architectural alterations.

Working with what was already there

The renovation leaves the contrast between old and new visible. Existing timber floors, trusses and period detailing sit alongside the elements needed for contemporary commercial occupation.

The result is not a recreation of the building’s past. Harris House continues to change, but its Art Deco character remains the part you notice first.