The story of Re:START is the story of a defibrillator applied to the arresting heart of Christchurch. The beats it brought into Cashel Mall pumped life through the CBD, bringing us the thriving collection of businesses present and continually growing in the city today.

It was our new High Street while the real thing was cordoned off, and it gave people hope that things could return to normal, even if the mall itself was anything but. The colourful containers became an attraction, a place to hang out, eat, chew the fat, wander and shop. Lonely Planet picked Re:START out when awarding Christchurch a place in its 2013 top 10 cities, calling it “a colourful labyrinth of shipping containers”.

Very quickly after the February 2011 earthquake, a committee of CBD retailers and property owners began talking about how to save retail. “We were aware that a whole lot of businesses were looking for what to do, and none of them could afford to go into a mall. So many small businesses were dying,” says John Suckling, chair of the former Re:START the Heart Trust.

Committee members shared an opposition to a spreading feeling in the Christchurch community that maybe we didn’t need a central city. Experience and research from cities around the world showed them that this wasn’t true – that cities with a good CBD had prouder residents, more visitors and better business communities than those that were essentially a cluster of suburbs.

By March the committee had the beginnings of an idea, and approached Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee, asking for his support to launch an innovative retail mall next to Ballantynes. The Minister was keen, and the next month made a public announcement with the committee, painting broad strokes of the concept: something bold and temporary that would bring life back to the central city.

The committee considered other temporary building materials, such as the durable fabric of Auckland’s The Cloud. But containers quickly emerged as the preferred option because they could keep retail goods secure, they were quick to set up and – most importantly – they were strong and safe in an earthquake.

The committee set a hard deadline of the last week of October to open the mall. This was the week before Show Week and just before Christmas shopping would get into full swing.

Leighs Construction managing director Anthony Leighs got involved with the project early on, and he had a lead on 64 containers in China. The committee, which by now had formed into the official Re:START the Heart Trust, needed to sign off on the purchase. As the trust chased funds, the deadline got closer and closer and risks had to be taken.

“A decision had to be made. There had to be a way,” John says. “We signed it before we had a dollar in the bank.”

The name of the mall was a double entendre: a restart of the CBD; and also re: ‘regarding’ starting something new. The logo, a stylised heart made of stacked boxes, was designed and donated by Hummingbird Coffee.

Funding came in the form of an interest-free loan from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust, a grant from ASB and, later, funds from the Crown. Meanwhile, Leighs Construction and architect Anton Tritt of the Buchan Group did early work pro bono. The containers arrived by ship at Lyttelton in August, with 61 days
‘til opening.

About half of the containers were delivered to site, and due to space constraints the remainder went to the Leighs Construction yard for preliminary work before being installed.

Opening day was Saturday 29 October, 2011, just eight months after the earthquake rendered most of the central city inaccessible. There were tears of joy from people who had never believed they would be able to return to central Christchurch, and the success of the mall was enhanced by a synergy with neighbouring Ballantynes, which reopened on the same day.

“On the Sunday I went around the retailers… the staff were absolutely buzzing,” John says.

Stores included a plucky group of pro-city shops and eateries who refused to resign the CBD, including Infinite Definite, Ruby, Scorpio Books, Stencil, The General Store, Untouched World, HAPA, Dimitri’s Greek Food and BASE Woodfired Pizza. They were backed up by some of the big kids like Kathmandu, Hallensteins and major banks, bringing a mixture of sizes and purposes that drew a large and regular crowd.

It was an optimistic place in a tough working environment. An island of safety in the red zone, Re:START was just a fence away from condemned buildings that were being actively pulled down while the mall operated. Hi-vis vests and helmets were a regular sight, and staff and visitors continued to be subject to thousands of aftershocks.

The mall traded for 2000 days, during which time the entire northern section was relocated to the south side of Cashel Street to make room for construction in 2014.
Re:START was a roaring success, and it was never meant to be permanent – rather acting as a pacemaker until the next iteration of Christchurch’s heart was ready to take over.

By 31 January 2018, Re:START had run for far longer than anyone originally anticipated, and it closed down to make room for what some would call its natural successor: Riverside Market.