Images have been released of a potential 55,000-seat stadium at the Wynyard Point site in Auckland, New Zealand.
The stadium has been designed by Populous and would form part of a wider complex including an indoor arena and an outdoor amphitheatre.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB, Wynyard Point consortium head Richard Dellabarca said the proposal sits on one of the “best sites in the world”. Renderings of the proposed stadium can be viewed here.
“We’ve got the best stadium designers in the world,” Dellabarca added. “The reason they’ve joined us is because they think this is an amazing site, one of the best they’ve seen in the world, and they have the ability to create something really iconic for New Zealand.”
Auckland Council is reviewing a number of projects for a major stadium development in the city. One of these proposals has been put forward by Eden Park, New Zealand’s national stadium, which is planning on fitting a new retractable roof.
In February, plans were unveiled for a 55,000-seat stadium in the Quay Park area of Auckland. This project centres on a 15-hectare precinct that would also include hotels, bars, restaurants, retail and office space, residential apartments and green spaces.
The Quay Park project, dubbed Te Tōangaroa, features an innovative U-shaped design, with the roof drawing inspiration from Maori culture.
Another project in the mix is a “sunken” waterfront stadium in the Waitematā Harbour. Last year, it emerged that the Auckland Waterfront Consortium (AWC), which first revealed a proposal for a NZ$1.8bn (£863m/€1bn/$1.1bn) venture back in 2018, was planning a new venue that could seat up to 70,000 people.
Dellabarca said that the Wynyard Point site has the lowest costs out of all the proposals put forward, adding: “It doesn’t have the complexity of Quay Park and it doesn’t sit in the middle of a densely populated suburb, Mt Eden [where Eden Park is located]. So you’ve got the double whammy of an iconic site and actually at the lowest-cost site to build.”
Dellabarca is a former board director at New Zealand Rugby, which is backing the Quay Park project. One of the hotels in the Quay Park precinct would be themed on New Zealand’s national rugby union team, the All Blacks.
According to 1News, the Wynyard Point project has received backing from JP Morgan. The report claimed that Auckland Council will discuss all of the stadium proposals this Thursday before voting on its two preferred plans the following Thursday.
The report added that the Eden Park project will “almost certainly” be one of the projects selected, while the sunken waterfront proposal is the least likely to progress.
