Watch: Homestretch for stadium construction

With around eight months to go until One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha's grand opening, the installation of the roof cladding continues to be a key focus. This work is now well past the halfway mark, and is on track to finish up in September.

The roof will keep the temperature inside the stadium around two to four degrees warmer than outside.

The exterior walls of the stadium are only weeks away from completion. The stadium façade features around 800m of steel sheeting in colours representing the Canterbury landscape, and 1,100 panes of glass.

Inside the stadium, many parts of the build have now been completed, including the players’ facilities on the ground floor of the west stand. One NZ Stadium can accommodate up to four teams at a time. As well as the changing rooms, teams will have access to medical and physio rooms, hydrotherapy pools, bathrooms, coaches’ briefing rooms, and large indoor warm-up areas - all of which have now been completed.

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

Super Round heads to One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha

The city of Christchurch, the Crusaders and Super Rugby Pacific have joined forces to bring Super Round to Christchurch in 2026, marking the first major sporting event at the brand new One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.

Super Round 2026 will combine world-class rugby with live music and family-friendly fun, as fans from across New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and the Pacific come together to celebrate a historic festival of footy in Christchurch.

Set for Round 11 of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, from April 24 to 26, 10 teams will descend on the city for five high-stakes matches across one blockbuster weekend.  

Super Round will give fans one of the first chances to experience Ōtautahi Christchurch’s brand-new, state-of-the-art One New Zealand Stadium. With 25,000 seats under a fixed roof, and a prime location in the city centre, the stadium is the perfect venue for three days of entertaining rugby.  

With fixture details to be confirmed in the coming weeks, the opening act of Super Round on Friday 24 April will feature hometown heroes and defending champions the Crusaders. 
  
The following day the competition’s burgeoning Anzac Day rivalries reignite as the Hurricanes face the ACT Brumbies for the Captain Shout Cup, and the Blues tackle the Queensland Reds, with the players competing for the Sellars Dixon Medal. 
  
The action concludes with another blockbuster double-header on Sunday 26 April. 

Faces of Te Kaha: Harrison Smith

Position: Rope Access Technician at Goleman Group. 

Day to day I… hang from ropes to access hard to reach locations. The main projects we’re working on at the moment is the post construction cleaning, and installing the smoke baffle around the bowl. This is a PVC material designed to slow down smoke in the event of a fire. 

The best part of my job is... definitely the people. We hire a lot of people from all over the world and everyone brings diverse skills.  

Past projects: I’ve worked on all sorts of high-rise maintenance and cleaning projects. 

Outside of work I... have two young kids, so I’m always trying to find new ways to keep them entertained and maintain some sort of order around the house. 

Progress update

With eight months until opening, One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha is coming together. Many parts of the build are finished, and several key areas of work are on the homestretch. 

Check out the month's progress snapshots below.

The exterior façade is set to be finished in the next few weeks. The last sections of glazing and cladding are currently being installed at the northern end, pictured above. The glazing will allow sunlight to shine onto the turf. The façade features a pattern made up of 800m of steel sheeting in colours representing the Canterbury landscape, and 1,100 panes of glass.

This month, the roof cladding installation passed the halfway mark. The roof is expected to keep the temperature inside the stadium around two to four degrees warmer than outside. It will also keep the rain at bay. This key part of the project is on track to wrap up in September.

Work on the two LED big screens continues, with both frames now in place and the team moving on to installing the electronics. The screens are each around 150m².

Above is a look at how the landscaping is progressing in the Barbadoes Street and Tuam Street corner. Garden beds are in, kerbs are poured, lighting is in, and the area is prepared for asphalting. 

Players' facilities finished

Here's a look inside the players' facilities at One NZ Stadium at Te Kaha.

The stadium features four changing suites on the ground floor of the west stand, two each side of the players' tunnel that leads onto the field of play. Each team will have their own changing room as well as access to physio / medical rooms, hydrotherapy plunge pools, coaches' briefing rooms, and indoor warm up areas. 

This design will be great for double-header events like the upcoming Anzac weekend Super Round. 

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.

Q3 2025 - The installation of the roof cladding will continue. Landscaping will progress towards the northern end of the site, fit-out works will continue within the stands and final services commissioning will commence. Seating installation will continue and preparations will progress ahead of the turf being laid. LED big screens and ribbon boards will start to be installed.

Q4 2025 - Many workstreams will start to wrap up this quarter, including the fit-out of the stands, landscaping works, roof cladding, and seat installation. Work will continue on establishing the turf and installing the LED ribbon boards. The final services commissioning and testing will continue.