Industry News

Underwater stadium proposed for Auckland

An Auckland-based designer has proposed an innovative design for a new ‘underwater’ stadium in the New Zealand city.

The Stuff.co.nz news website reports that Phil O’Reilly has set his sights on developing a waterfront venue that would be sunk into the ground and feature a slide-over roof.

O’Reilly has named the project ‘The Crater’ and has submitted the plans to Phil Goff, Mayor of Auckland.

“My research tells me it would be a world-first concept that marked the city as highly innovative and unique in preserving a balance between its beautiful volcanic land forms and the civic built environment,” O’Reilly said, according to Stuff.co.nz.

“I would like them (the council) to do that (consider the project). That would be cool … If enough people in Auckland think it’s a cool idea, I would imagine it would be doable.”

Goff has previously expressed a preference for building a new stadium in Auckland over developing Eden Park, the city’s 60,000-seat venue which stages rugby union and cricket fixtures.

A spokesman for Goff told Stuff.co.nz that the Regional Facilities Auckland body was not currently seeking conceptual designs but is still weighing up the possibility of a new stadium.

Image: DXR (Wikimedia)