First seat installed in Christchurch stadium - can you spot it?

Thursday, 26 June 2025

The first seat has been installed... can you find it in this picture? (If you can’t, scroll to the bottom of this story)

In what is being hailed as another “major milestone”, the first seat has been installed at Christchurch’s $683 million One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha.

It is the first of 25,000 permanent seats to go in the covered stadium, which is scheduled to open in April next year.

In a major milestone moment, the first seat has been installed at Te Kaha One New Zealand Stadium.

The seating bowl will feature a unique kowhaiwhai pattern inspired by the hammerhead shark (mangōpare), in black and grey.

The hammerhead shark represents strength, tenacity, speed and agility.

The pattern was created by local visual artist and graphic designer Morgan Darlison (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Tainui), who also designed the exterior façade artwork.

This render shows the kowhaiwhai design, looking south from the northwest corner.

One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha will have 25,000 permanent seats, with capacity for 5000 more to be added at the northern end for large events.

The seating installation is expected to finish up later this year.

An aerial view of the first seat to go into the stadium.

Project director Kent Summerfield said: “This is a major milestone moment.”

Another focus for the project is the roof. The solid portion of the roof to the south is almost complete.

The installation of the clear section started this month, using a material called Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), which is installed in two layers.

The layers form an air cushion, which will help keep bad weather out while allowing natural daylight through to support the turf growth.

If you couldn’t find it the first time, here it is.

Meanwhile, discussions are happening around events that will launch the stadium, but no opening acts have been announced.

Christchurch city councillor Aaron Keown mooted a “super bogan” weekend, which he envisaged would involve AC/DC playing in the city the same weekend as the Supercars championship event at Ruapuna on April 17-19.

Stadium operator Venues Ōtautahi said they would likely need 1000 casual event staff when the stadium opened.