Legal threat to Christchurch 'pop-up' mall

Shipping containers in Cashel Mall. The 'pop-up' mall has been threatened with legal action from a similar development in London. Photo / NZ Herald

A British developer has threatened legal action against the organisers of Christchurch's "pop-up" inner city mall, alleging they've copied a similar project planned in London.

Roger Wade, the director of the London Boxpark development in Shoreditch, emailed the organisers behind the Cashel Mall Restart project, claiming they have infringed on intellectual property rights, Fairfax media reports.

The Cashel Mall development, a temporary pop-up mall with 60 containers creating 27 shops, opens on Saturday.

BoxPark, which also comprises of 60 containers, is due to open in December.

Last week, project architect Anton Tritt said the Christchuch project, which seeks to spark a revitalisation of the city's CBD following the February 22 earthquake, was the first pop-up mall in the world although he was aware of the London project.

However Boxpark markets itself as "the worlds first and only pop-up mall", and while Mr Wade had initially supported the Restart project, he was surprised to hear it referred to as a world first.

Restart director Paul Lonsdale told Fairfax he had sought legal advice.

He said he was taking the action seriously, however denied similarities between the projects.

"It will be very hard to say it's a copy because it doesn't look anything like Boxpark. The only thing that aligns these things together is they both use containers."

Regardless of the threat, Mr Lonsdale said the mall will open on Saturday.

- Herald Online staff