GIANT, BOLD, RED LETTERING ENLIVENS THE steel, glass and polycarbonate facade under the roof of Marian College, an all-girls Catholic high school in Christchurch that has made itself a home in an unlikely place – a 17,000m2 former Foodstuffs warehouse. Inside, the school chapel takes centre stage, like a honed timber jewel against its industrial background and signifying the importance of faith to the school. The chapel’s ply ceiling panels have been laser cut to represent the night sky constellation as it was on the day Marian College was first opened in 1982. Backlit, the Southern Cross sparkles brightly amongst the other stars, fittingly, as the school was gifted the name ‘Māhutonga’ (Southern Cross) by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tūāhuriri Education Committee to reflect the journey the community has undertaken to reach its new site.
Marian College was forced to vacate its home in Shirley, Christchurch, when the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes rendered its buildings
