New drain for museum's old stone walls

Canterbury Museum’s stone walls are breathing easier after a new drain was installed along one façade.

A new drain is being laid along the southern facade of Canterbury Museum to protect its 150-year-old basalt stone walls.

The Museum, which opened on what is now Rolleston Avenue in October 1870, sits right on the boundary of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Over the years, watering of the adjacent garden has affected the Museum’s almost 150-year-old basalt stone walls and foundation on its southern facade.

Soil had also built up in the garden covering many of the ground level air vents, stopping the wall cavity from breathing.

To solve the problem, Museum heritage advisors Fulton Ross Team Architects proposed a relatively simple solution, a French drain. Contractors excavated a trench along the Museum’s southern facade exposing the partial remains of the original 1870s drainage channel. A perforated pipe that attracts surface water and redirects it to the city storm water drains was placed inside the new trench and the existing channel. It was then covered with gravel.

Museum Director Anthony Wright says it is a great solution achieved by working closely with the Botanic Gardens and Christchurch City Council heritage experts.

“We have an amazing array of taonga (treasures) in the collection but the Benjamin Mountfort designed heritage buildings are first amongst them. With so much history and heritage lost in the earthquakes, we need to look after the heritage buildings that remain. We’re fully committed to making sure that these fine buildings which date back to 1872 and 1877 will be here in perpetuity.”