Award of the Court
Ōtautahi’s Court Theatre wins Judges’ Choice at the 2026 Property Industry Awards.
The Court Theatre has received the inaugural Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Judges’ Choice Award at the 2026 Property Council New Zealand Property Industry Awards, which celebrate excellence across the built environment.
A new category for 2026, the award recognises ‘outstanding civic value’: a permanent home for New Zealand’s largest professional theatre company, after the Canterbury earthquakes forced it from its former premises.
Property Council Chief Executive Leonie Freeman said the project demonstrates how cultural infrastructure can strengthen a city’s identity and community.
“Great civic projects earn their place in the city through use,” she says. “Cities need buildings that do more than occupy land. They need places that hold memory, support activity and give people a reason to come together. The Court Theatre does that with heart and soul,” Leonie says.
Delivered by Christchurch City Council, designed by Athfield Architects with Haworth Tompkins and built by Hawkins, the project was recognised for creating an accessible, welcoming civic landmark that supports Christchurch’s ongoing regeneration.
_____________
Canterbury winners in the 2026 Property Industry Awards:
Health and Arts:
• Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities Community and Affordable Housing
• Te Pākau Maru, New Brighton
• Three Lanes Lyttelton Street
Colliers Project Leaders Education
• Kōawa Post Production Building, 129 Waimairi Road
• Te Aratai 16 Teaching Space Block – Stage 2b
Naylor Love Heritage and Adaptive Reuses
• NZR Co. Building.
CBRE Industrial:
• Americold Pātaka Makariri Cold Storage Halwyn Drive
• Daikin Park Christchurch
• Burnham Maintenance Support Facility – The Forge / Te Toki
Hawkins Multi Unit Residential
• Tupuarangi Student Accommodation University of Canterbury, Riccarton.
Holmes Tourism and Leisure
• Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, Christchurch.
