A Christchurch school often known for its innovative learning practices will now have a new school to match but not until early 2019.

A new site has now been secured in the CBD for Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery, a merger of two schools who lost their sites in the February 2011 earthquake.

Associate education minister Nikki Kaye said the $30 million building will be a New Zealand first.

"For the Ministry of Education to be building effectively a three to four storey building on a compact site, that is very new and we've done a lot of thinking around that."

Christchurch MP Nicky Wagner said the new St Asaph site is in an ideal location.

"It's quite close to the bus exchange and that's operating really well. It's near where Ballentynes is and the city mall."

The school's director Steven Mustor said ideally they were hoping to be in the inner city sooner.

"When I took on the job in 2013 the idea was for us to be in to town this year, September 2016, and that hasn't quite happened for us, but the positive side of it is that we are going back."

He said even the original CBD site was just converted office spaces.

"And they are specifically designed for us potentially failing and being moved out so they had to be able to be turned back into this. Whereas we get the opportunity now to create spaces that reflect the unique needs of our students."

Mr Mustor said the older students will be upset they aren't going to experience the school, but they have the joy of helping create it for the younger ones.

Ms Wagner said the students’ ideas on the design are just as valid as anyone else's and should be heard.

"I can't promise that all their ideas will be picked up. We've heard some pretty crazy ones today, but they must be part of the conversation."

Ms Wagner said by the time the kids move in, the city will pretty much be back to normal.

Work will begin on the St Asaph site next year.