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History

The Stadium came to life in 2000 at a waterfront site in the heart of the city. See how it all began with our historic timeline leading up to where we are today.

Building the Stadium

Design Managers and Main Contractors: Fletcher Construction Ltd
Architects: Architecture Warren & Mahoney Ltd, Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture
Project Managers: Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd

The Wellington Regional Stadium Trust would like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals for their vital funding support which helped make the Stadium a reality: 

  • Wellington Regional Council and Wellington regional ratepayers
  • Wellington City Council and Wellington city ratepayers
  • New Zealand Lottery Grants Board
  • The Community Trust of Wellington
  • Deloitte Club Members
  • Stadium Corporate Box Holders 

Construction facts

  • The Stadium is one of the biggest pre-cast concrete construction jobs undertaken in New Zealand using 4,000 lightweight concrete units cast in Otaki and New Plymouth and trucked to Wellington.
  • It is the most 'craned' construction job ever undertaken by Fletchers - more even than the big hydro construction projects in the South Island.
  • The lightweight concrete used is 20% to 30% lighter than ordinary concrete. The largest units still weighed up to 35 tonnes.
  • The project employed 250 construction staff on site and a further 230 off site.
  • About 18,000 cubic metres (5000 truck loads) of concrete were used in total.
  • Also used were 1590 tonnes of structural steel, 2700 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 250,000 concrete blocks.
  • Construction crews installed 3.5 kilometres of fencing, barriers and handrails.
  • Electricians installed 4.9 kilometres of electrical cabling.
  • The Stadium has no posts or poles to obstruct the view and every seat is angled to look toward the middle.
  • The roof has an aerofoil vane on the leading edge to help hold the roof in place and calm and filter the wind on the arena surface.
  • The number of toilets far exceeds the building code.
  • The building "footprint" covers almost 1.8 hectares.
  • The grassed oval itself covers 16,162 square metres.
  • Night events are lit by 392, 2000 watt globes mounted in four lighting towers.
  • The Stadium cost $130 million to build. The finance came from:
    • Wellington Regional Council: 25$M
    • Wellington City Council: 15$M
    • Grants and Donations: 7$M
    • Fundraising: 50$M
    • ANZ Bank Loan: 33$M