Artwork hung, loos stocked: a sneak peek inside Auckland’s new convention centre
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
The artwork is hung, the digital billboard screens are lit and the loos are stocked with toilet paper at Auckland’s newest venue.
After almost 17 years in the making, the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) is - finally - set to open its doors in three weeks’ time.
But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon managed to pip everyone else, becoming the first to hold an event at the new facility. On Monday, 700 attendees - a who’s who of New Zealand’s business and political worlds - paid up to $700 a ticket to lunch and listen to Luxon deliver his State of the Nation address.
Luxon, however, made no mention of the venue in his speech.
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Artwork flanks the building’s exterior cladding and sprawls across its cavernous interior walls. The 475 coloured glass panels that make up Auckland artist Sara Hughes’ Iwi Rau / Many Leaves, One Canopy wrap around the facade.
A 17-metre-high work by Shane Cotton (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Hine, Te Uri Taniwha) - commissioned by SkyCity in 1996 - has been relocated to its new home beside the elevators.
Around the corner, another 17-metre artwork, Pou Wairua by renowned Māori kaiwhakairo Lyonel Grant (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa), stands over the atrium.
SkyCity chief executive Jason Walbridge opened the event, saying the company would spend the weeks leading up to the February opening “testing and refining and learning” right up until the doors open.
“We understand what this moment requires of us - to deliver well, to operate responsibly and to create lasting value for New Zealand.”
More than 120 events have already been booked, ranging from international conferences to graduations and school balls. The NZICC is expected to attract 33,000 additional international visitors a year, generate 100,000 hotel room nights and boost the economy “significantly”, Walbridge said.
“Visitors will explore Auckland, travel to our regions, experience our culture, our hospitality and our natural environment,” he said.
“Each event here creates a ripple effect that supports jobs, small businesses, exporters and regional tourism right across the country. The NZICC is not just a venue - it’s part of our national economic and tourism infrastructure.”
However, not all attendees were impressed.
Property developer Andrew Krukziener said the experience was lacking for those who drove to the venue. Parking was located at the neighbouring Horizon Hotel, requiring multiple elevator trips, an overbridge and a walk to reach the centre.
“[Who] designed that?” he remarked to The Post in passing.
The NZICC has had a long and troubled history. Its development began with a government feasibility study in 2009, and in 2013 sparked protest after the National-led Government struck a deal with SkyCity allowing the gambling operator more pokie machines in exchange for building the then $400 million centre.
The venue was originally slated to open in 2020, but was beset by repeated delays, most notably a devastating fire during construction in October 2019 that caused extensive damage and halted work for months.
The project was then further delayed by Covid-19 disruptions, labour shortages and complex remediation work, pushing the centre’s cost to an estimated $1 billion.
It was announced on Monday that the first public ticketed event at the NZICC will be a performance by Kiwi band Six60 on February 13.