A Blast From The Past–Temple Architect Shares the Story

Architect from Auckland, Anders Chong visited Christchurch for a holiday with his friends at the beginning of June. Mr. Chong was the project supervisor for the construction of FGS South Island Temple, and on 4th June, he voluntarily took YAD members and Fo Guang Shan South Island staff for a tour of the Temple building.

As the participants will be the future tour guides of the Temple, they paid full attention during the tour and took notes on the important points, while voicing their queries so that their uncertainties could be met with a succinct and clear explanation provided by Mr. Chong. Anders began the tour with highlighting the inspiration of the temple’s building design.
The irregular design concept of the Temple’s facade was derived from the carvings of the grotto caves in Longman, China, and was realized here in Christchurch by skillful builders. The unique building materials of the building, together with modern European construction technology which was employed to put everything together stunned everyone.

The interior design and layout of the building expresses the intention of serving the community, with the largest size halls and rooms dedicated to the guests and visitors of the Temple. The economical and environmentally-friendly building materials used have brought about a perfect outcome, while keeping well in line with the global movement of clean and green construction.
The hour-long guided tour enabled the staff of the Temple to understand the initial design concept of the Temple building, as well as its significance. The building design embodies the spirit of the practitioner, with unadorned walls and bare concrete.

The purpose of this tour was to prepare the Temple staff for taking the responsibility of taking guided tours of the Temple, so that the message of this building may be conveyed to the visitors who come.