A look at the ‘radical’ plans for Auckland’s proposed new stadium and precinct

Tuesday, 13 February 2024

What the proposed downtown stadium at the Quay Park precinct would look like.

Images of what a proposed stadium in downtown Auckland could look like have been released.
It would be part of a precinct at Quay Park known as Te Tōangaroa and would include hotels, restaurants, apartments and green spaces.
The proposed stadium could hold around 55,000 people and was inspired by traditional Māori culture.

The design of a proposed stadium in downtown Auckland has been released by a global team who say Auckland is in need of better stadium infrastructure.

The stadium has been proposed as part of a precinct, known as Te Tōangaroa, in Auckand’s Quay Park and would also include four hotels, bars, restaurants, retail, commercial office space, apartments, public plazas and green spaces.

Former Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle, who is backing the proposal, designed by HKS Architects, said he had always felt as though Auckland “deserved” better stadium infrastructure.

Doyle believed the proposed stadium which could hold around 55,000 people, would provide that.

So how is this stadium different? And can it live up to the hype heaped on it by its proponents? Here are five things that stand out.

Close to public transport and inner city night life and bars

The new stadium would be situated in Quay Park in the heart of Auckland’s CBD next to Spark Arena and near Britomart train station and lots of other bus options for patrons.

Images of what the proposed downtown stadium could look like have been released.

Cruise ships would also be anchored nearby on both Princess and Queens Wharf, just minutes walk away.

Doyle thinks this is a big part of the stadium proposal’s appeal. “Rather than wasting money on upgrading our existing stadiums I think we should put on downtown where it’s close to public transport,” he says.

Being in downtown Auckland, the stadium is also surrounded by hospitality options for both pre and post-game dining.

The traditional Aotearoa-focused design

An overhead shot shows where the precinct would sit.

The design of the proposed stadium was unlike any other in Australasia, Doyle said, and HKS Architects wanted to help create something “unique” to Auckland and New Zealand.

Doyle says the design was “radical and innovative”, and was inspired by traditional Māori culture and historic features of the city.

The arena will also be opened out at one end, allowing views of the Waitematā Harbour and Rangitoto Island.

Offers flexibility for sports and concerts

The stadium will allow for both sport and other events such as concerts to be held there and will be able to be reconfigured to suit what event is taking place.

The new design also includes a retractable roof allowing for both indoor and outdoor events to take place, irrespective of the weather.

“It’s an iconic stadium and could be used for concerts as well as sports. We wanted something that wasn’t just a concrete box looking inwards on itself,” Doyle said.

The stadium would have views of Rangitoto.

The stadium could reinvigorate an unused area of Auckland

The Quay Park area where the proposed precinct would go, was largely unused, Doyle said, with “old railway tracks”.

Since the building of Spark Arena in 2007, the area behind the old Auckland train station has been largely disused making it ripe for development options.

As early as 2016, people were floating the land at Quay Park, which is owned by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as an option for a new stadium.

Several bars, restaurants, and retail outlets, as well as commercial office space and potential for residential apartment buildings have also been included in the proposal.

The regeneration of the area would be the last in a chain along the waterfront, after Wynyard Point, the Viaduct, Britomart and Commercial Bay, Doyle said.

It comes with an All Blacks-themed hotel

The stadium proposal comes with four new hotels in the Quay Park area, including one which is sure to please rugby fans in the form of an All Blacks-themed hotel.

The hotel, which has the support of NZ Rugby would be incorporated into the side of the stadium and would be the first of its kind in New Zealand.

Overseas, sports-themed hotels are common, with the English and Welsh rugby unions having hotels attached to Twickenham and Principality Stadium respectively.

Meanwhile, in the US, Marriott offers themed rooms to fans of the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, and Seattle Seahawks American football teams.

Since releasing artist’s impressions of the stadium, Doyle said feedback from the public had been “very positive”.

“It’s a striking building and I think it’s something Aucklanders really want in their city.”

The proposal of the Quay Park precinct was one of eight bids under consideration by an Auckland Council working group.

Doyle said it would then be up to the council to decide on its preference for Auckland’s future main stadium.