Watch: Six months to go for new stadium

With six months until the city’s new stadium opens its doors, the roof is finished, and the landscaping works are coming along in leaps and bounds.

Around the site, the planting, lighting, pathways, and exterior stairs are well advanced and the team is ready to connect the grounds to the surrounding footpaths and complete the precinct.

Inside the stadium, the seating bowl is coming together. 18 kilometres of railing for the 25,000 permanent seats has been installed, along with all the handrails and safety barriers.

Major works are on track to finish late this year. This includes the landscaping, seat installation, and fit-out of the stands.

The project remains on budget and the stadium is on track to open in April 2026.

Faces of Te Kaha: Caleb Hansen

Position: Site Supervisor for Fabritecture. 

Day to day I… oversee three subcontractors and all the work they’re undertaking. I also have a crew of my own. We install high tensile fabric structures, predominantly in roofs. We work all around the world on all types of structures. 

At the stadium there are two parts of the roof we’re working on, the ETFE pillows and the ETFE cassettes at the northern end of the site.  

Past projects: I’ve worked on the metro sports facility, which was a big job. On a smaller scale, the cricket pavilion at Elmwood Park, there’s quite a cool structure there. Another job was at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which has the same system we have here at the stadium. 

The best part of my job is… I just like working alongside all the subcontractors, seeing everyone get along and get good progress happening. 

Outside of work I… like going hiking, and I do a bit of spear fishing in Kaikoura.  

Footpath works start next week

The fences around the stadium will start coming down next week so the grounds can be connected to the surrounding precinct.

Temporary fences will be placed around the stadium on Madras, Tuam and Barbadoes Streets while asphalt is laid on the footpaths, and street furniture, bike stands and a bus shelter are installed.

Temporary lane closures will need to be in place around the stadium so contractors can work safely. 

The work is expected to finish in December, when the temporary fences will be moved to the stadium boundary where they will remain until the stadium opens in April 2026.

Progress update

The roof is finished and the landscaping, seating and field of play works are coming along nicely.

Check out the month's progress snapshots below.

Above is a shot of the Barbadoes Street and Tuam Street intersection. Late last month, the last piece of roof cladding was installed, closing out a significant part of the project.

Inside the stadium, work on the field of play is continuing. The under-pitch ventilation and pop-up irrigation systems are in. In the foreground of the picture above, the subgrade layers are being added. This work has finished at the far end, where a layer of sand is now being added.

The turf has been growing off-site since March and will be delivered to the stadium and laid in the summer, allowing it plenty of time to acclimatise ahead of the Super Rugby Super Round in April.

Above is a closer look at the seating pattern of the southern stand. The black and grey kowhaiwhai pattern is inspired by the hammerhead shark, a symbol of strength, tenacity, speed and agility. It is a unique feature of One NZ Stadium at Te Kaha. Around 18km of seat railing has been installed around the bowl, and details like the section numbers above the stairs are starting to be added as well.

The image above provides a bird's eye view along Tuam Street. The landscaping works are largely finished at this end of the site, with only finishing touches to go. 

Site progress photos

What to expect over the coming months

Due to the huge size of the project, different stages of work will overlap to streamline the process. That means as one phase of work progresses across the site (working from south to north), the next phase will follow closely behind it.

Q4 2025 - Many workstreams will start to wrap up this quarter, including the fit-out of the stands, landscaping works, and seat installation. Work will continue on preparing the field of play for the turf. LED ribbon boards will be installed in the stands. The final services commissioning and testing will continue. The perimeter fences will shift so the stadium grounds can be tied into the surrounding precinct.

Q1 2026 - Field of play works will be completed and the turf will be established on site. The final building clean will take place. The venue operators will receive training and site familiarisation ahead of opening in April.