The Buildings and Places
The Exhibition buildings were at the time the largest structure ever erected in New Zealand. Some 14 acres (5.7 hectares), a floor space of 476,500 square feet (44,315 square metres), were under cover, including the Main Building, the Machinery Hall, the Fernery, the Art Gallery and the Concert Hall. The space available for exhibitors was about 300,000 square feet (27,900 square metres), which was charged out at between 2 shillings and 2 shilling and sixpence per square foot. Those exhibits that weren’t housed inside were situated in Hagley Park.
The total cost of the building project was around £97,000, including over £9000 for lighting and gas (supplied by the Christchurch Gas Company and Scott Bros.), £900 for water and sewerage and nearly £3000 for lavatories. Between 150 and 200 men worked on the buildings at different times.
