Abstract:
The vulnerability of New Zealand’s historic unreinforced masonry (URM) church building stock was highlighted following the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes (Mw 7.1 Darfield earthquake and Mw 6.3 Christchurch earthquake) and the recent November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake (Mw 7.8). Inherent construction characteristics render these URM structures earthquake-prone and a topic of ongoing discussion concerns the selection of appropriate seismic retrofitting solutions to safeguard and privilege their heritage architectural fabric. URM churches constitute hubs of community activity and it is vital to promote a holistic approach for their conservation, through structural upgrading. Architectural heritage conservation best practice advocates consideration of the historic URM structure along with its architectural setting, in addition to examining the impact of structural interventions. A study of URM churches located within the Anglican Diocese of the Waikato and Taranaki regions was undertaken to explore the application of these established conservation principles, based on the key tenets outlined by the ICOMOS New Zealand Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage (Revised 2010). The initial research phase entailed discussion of the key architectural findings and emerging themes, prior to the development of a framework for assessing various degrees of structural intervention such as post-earthquake risk mitigation or full seismic upgrading.
