‘Architectural Drawings of Christ’s College’ by Sir Miles Warren and Alec Bruce

A landmark publication that focuses solely on the architecture of Christ’s College.

The Christ’s College campus in Christchurch is unquestionably one of the most remarkable collections of buildings in New Zealand, but there are few publications which focus solely on its architecture.

To produce this book, Sir Miles Warren, the architect for Christ’s College for 43 years, enlisted fellow Christchurch architect Alec Bruce to create this succinct summary of the design of the college’s unique buildings. Earlier collaborations on projects at Christ’s College led naturally to this shared authorship.

Architectural drawings have been used instead of photographs, to show the range of types of graphical information from which buildings were produced and the different creative tendencies of the architects involved. Later design commissions contend with the challenge of working in an established heritage environment.

Significant parts of Christ’s College were changed as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes, lending urgency to the publication of this book, which includes buildings which have been removed since September 2010.

About the Authors

Born in Christchurch and educated at Christ’s College, Sir Miles Warren notes that his first involvement with the architecture of Christ’s College was in 1945 as a 16-year-old draughtsman working for the architect Cecil Wood.

Sir Miles has received many awards over his long career in architecture including in 1974 a CBE and in 1985 a KBE, both for his Services to Architecture. Sir Miles was given the country’s highest honour in 1995, when he was admitted to the Order of New Zealand.

He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Auckland in 2001, in 2003 he was made an Arts Foundation Te Timu Toi Icon and he received one of two top honours in Canterbury’s Business Awards in September 2007.

Alec Bruce was born in Blenheim and boarded at Christ’s College where he was head prefect in 1975. He completed his degree in Auckland and has been a practising architect in Christchurch since 1985. His first collaboration with Sir Miles Warren was in 2000.

Design awards received by Alec during his career include many for adaptive reuse and restoration of heritage buildings.

Alec has a deep respect for the skill and mastery of the architects who preceded him at Christ’s College. He continues to apply his knowledge of Christchurch’s distinct architectural traditions to his projects and professional life.