The recovery of Christchurch provides an institutional opportunity to revitalise and diversify the city. The thesis proposes to refocus the recovery process by placing education at the forefront of the rebuild. Integrating education at the centre of the anchor projects can help to expand the overall purpose of the rebuild and reinvent the city’s personal identity. Here, the imposed merger of two existing schools is utilised to play a leading role in the revitalisation of the city. The two schools were chosen for their interconnected-community based systems and creative learning philosophies.