Canterbury Museum Redevelopment Information

We're building a new Museum for Waitaha Canterbury – a world class facility to house the taonga (treasures) we care for and a place to tell the stories of our region and the people who live here.

The tired twentieth century buildings have been demolished, the iconic heritage buildings will be strengthened and restored, and base isolation added to most of the site.

We plan to reopen towards the end of 2028. A new building will wrap around the heritage buildings and connect to the restored Robert McDougall Gallery. Here we'll display artworks from the collections of the Museum and other cultural institutions.

At the heart of the new Museum will be a soaring atrium and exhibition space named Araiteuru where mana whenua will bring to life their stories, both ancient and new. Visitors will rediscover favourites like The Christchurch Street and The Pāua Shell House. The Antarctic Gallery and Discovery will be reimagined and there'll be new exhibitions and spaces to explore.

https://snowgrass.nz/cust/canterbury/museum/images

Watch the building works

Check out progress on the new Museum. This time lapse image updates every 15 minutes.

The Leighs March Joint Venture is continuing with the huge job of installing the large temporary support structure under the Robert McDougall Gallery. This needs to be built before they can dig out the basement of the old gallery next year. More than 300 micro piles, together with temporary beams and supports will safely hold up the building while the new base-isolated permanent structure is built.

The outer diaphragm wall for the new base-isolated basement has been installed along the Centennial Wing façade on Rolleston Avenue. A large crane at the back of the Museum is now installing the 12-metre-deep basement wall around the McDougall Gallery.

In the next few months, the contractor will install a steel-frame support structure to protect the Centennial Wing façade so they can deconstruct the remainder of the building behind.