25 November 1998

New Art Gallery Background

The Buchan Group Profile

The Buchan Group has an exemplary track record in development architecture with specialist expertise in civic, retail, tourism and leisure, institutional and mixed use commercial developments. The firm takes pride in its ability to work with clients to develop a project from its earliest stages, and offers the total range of services required for projects of all sizes.

The Buchan Group Architects Auckland was formed in 1991, and has associate offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and South East Asia. World Architecture magazine’s 1997 world survey ranked The Buchan Group as the largest architectural practice in Australasia and 15th largest in the world.

The Buchan Group has worked closely with Christchurch architects to ensure the successful delivery of previous projects. A similar association will be established in the development of the winning concepts for the Christchurch art gallery. Work of The Buchan Group will be familiar to Christchurch people in the form of projects undertaken by the firm’s retail development specialists including the $32 million redevelopment of Riccarton Mall, $14 million extensions to Northlands Shopping Centre, $18 million extensions to The Palms at Shirley and the recently completed redevelopment of Merivale Shopping Centre.

In addition, The Buchan Group has a proven history in the design and delivery of large and very large public and civic buildings, including the Victorian Arts Centre Masterplan, the landmark Southgate urban development and the integrated hotel, retail and dining development of Australia on Collins all in Melbourne; redevelopment of the historic Sydney GPO site; Notre Dame University, the Aboriginal Culture Museum and the Perth Children’s Court in Western Australia; and The Australian Tax Office in Adelaide.

The key Buchan Group personnel working on the new Christchurch art gallery will be the company’s Auckland-based principal Rob Patience, who will be responsible for client liaison, design management, project delivery and contract administration; principal in charge of design David Cole whose previous credits include the $320 million Southgate Project in Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Centre Masterplan and the $300 million Sydney GPO redevelopment; and documentation co-ordinator John Corrick, who has extensive experience working on many of the company’s New Zealand projects, including Merivale Mall and Northlands Shopping Centre.

For further information contact: Rob Patience
The Buchan Group
Tel: 09 524 6161

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