106 Architects partnered with BECA and Global Leisure Group in 2013 to investigate a $120m sports-led masterplan for Christchurch City Council that would be their “sporting home” following the devastating earthquakes in 2011.
Located in the southeast of the city, the Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub was designed to meet the needs of the growing local community.
Ngā Puna Wai meaning ‘many spring waters’ refers to the many springs and tributaries in the area – forming part of the ancestral landscape of Ngāi Tahu. This area was once an important place for local Māori, who came together to connect and collaborate.
Comprising of 32 hectares of recreation and esplanade reserve, the masterplan picked up Māori ethos of meeting and gathering. As a result, Ngā Puna Wai provides an environment whereby the recreational and sporting communities can come together to share their love of sport through shared resources and outdoor spaces.
Ngā Puna Wai was built to replace earthquake damaged sports facilities across Christchurch, including the athletics and field amenities at QEII Park, the hockey turfs at Porritt Park, some of the tennis courts at Wilding Park, and the rugby league fields displaced from Rugby League Park in Addington by Christchurch Stadium.
The Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub has been opening in stages since 2018 and completed the delivery for Stage 1 works in August 2019. The facility now functions in it’s designed capacity to operate under a number of day-to-day and event conditions to serve multiple sports.
The sports precinct functions as a community-level park first and foremost, with the capacity to host regional, national, and international events when required, through scalable infrastructure designed into the masterplan.
The facility consists of two athletics tracks, three artificial hockey surfaces, natural grass fields, informal play spaces, indoor and exterior tennis courts, as well as provision for passive recreation.