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Parakiore Recreation & Sports CentreDelivering New Zealand’s largest indoor sport and aquatics facility

The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore, the largest aquatic and indoor sports venue in New Zealand.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
Parakiore delivers indoor facilities for community recreation and high-performance sport.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.
At 32,000 square metres, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities.

Transforming challenge into opportunity

Following the devastating 7.1 magnitude earthquake in September 2010 and the massive 6.3 magnitude aftershock on 22 February 2011, the city of Christchurch faced one of the most ambitious rebuilds in New Zealand's history. Key community facilities and structures across the city had been destroyed or were later demolished due to earthquake damage.

Once the city had been able to return to some level of normality, the focus turned to recovery and rebuild. One of the key ‘anchor’ projects was to design, develop and build a world class sporting facility to service not only Christchurch, but all of the South Island.

Aurecon was entrusted by the New Zealand Government to help design Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre (formerly Christchurch Metro Sports Facility), New Zealand's largest indoor sports and aquatic facility at 32,000 m2.

Having achieved Practical Completion in October 2025, Parakiore will now serve as a world-class venue of sporting excellence accessible to people of all ages, abilities, and sporting skills. The facility should attract over two million visits annually and host local, national, and international sporting events, providing new facilities as well as replacing those damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquakes.

Engineering excellence and digital innovation turned one of Christchurch’s most challenging post-quake sites into Parakiore,
a resilient, world-class community sport hub.

A resilient, world-class community sport hub

At 32,000 square metres on a 6-hectare site, Parakiore combines world-class sporting and wellness facilities. The complex features a 50 metre, 10-lane competition swimming pool built to FINA standard, the first of its kind in Christchurch since QEII's demolition.

Alongside this sits a separate diving pool, with New Zealand's first 10 metre competition platform dive tower built in over 20 years, and a ‘dry dive space’ with foam pit allowing divers to practice safely.

Location

Ōtautahi
Christchurch, New Zealand

Client

Crown Infrastructure Delivery

Aurecon's Role

Building design services, including structural, civil, geotechnical, traffic, electrical, mechanical and hydraulic, pool water services, surveying, fire engineering and facade engineering

Complete

2025

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New Zealand's first 10 m competition diving pool in over 20 years at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.
New Zealand's first 10 m competition diving pool in over 20 years at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.
View from top of diving pool at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.
The 50 m competition pool at Parakiore can be configured for 25 m swimming, water polo, canoe polo, and underwater hockey, and features a movable floor that can be raised to ‘zero’ depth for multi-sport events.
Parakiore features a large aquatic leisure area (as seen in image) and a dedicated learn-to-swim pool area.
Parakiore features a large aquatic leisure area and a dedicated learn-to-swim pool area (as seen in image).
Parakiore's aquatic centre includes five eel-inspired hydro slides, featuring New Zealand's first Looping Rocket trapdoor slide.
Parakiore's aquatic centre includes five eel-inspired hydro slides, featuring New Zealand's first Looping Rocket trapdoor slide.
Parakiore's Sensory Aqua Centre includes this wall of bubble columns.
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New Zealand's first 10 m competition diving pool in over 20 years at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.
New Zealand's first 10 m competition diving pool in over 20 years at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.
New Zealand's first 10 m competition diving pool in over 20 years at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre.

The 50 m pool can be configured in multiple different modes to be used for 25 m swimming, water polo, canoe polo, underwater hockey, and includes a movable floor which can be raised to ‘zero’ depth and used for multi-sport events.

The leisure pool space also includes five eel-inspired hydro slides, featuring New Zealand's first Looping Rocket trapdoor slide, a large aquatic leisure area, a dedicated learn to swim pool, and the country's first Aquatic Sensory Experience designed for people of all abilities. In total there are 11 pools and spas across the facility.

Designed for high-performance athletics and community

The Show Courts area is almost the size of a supermarket, a 2,900m2 space purpose-built to host televised games and high-performance sport, with retractable grandstands flanking the central court.

The centre also has a large-scale community court facility, incorporating 5,025 square metres of sprung timber floor with six basketball, netball and badminton courts, three futsal, handball, korfball or floorball courts and 12 volleyball courts.

The centre houses a purpose-built movement studio, incorporating three studios for dance, dive-acrobatics and circo-arts. Another area which will be of significant benefit to New Zealand athletes is the high-performance sport zone with a 60 metre indoor running track, throwing cage, gym, kitchen, and treatment and recovery spaces for elite athletes.

  • Parakiore includes large scale community court facilities with six basketball, netball and badminton courts, three futsal, handball, korfball or floorball courts and 12 volleyball courts.
  • Parakiore's Show Courts use high-quality, sprung timber system designed to reduce impact on players' joints.
  • Parakiore includes large scale community court facilities with six basketball, netball and badminton courts, three futsal, handball, korfball or floorball courts and 12 volleyball courts.
  • Parakiore includes large scale community court facilities with six basketball, netball and badminton courts, three futsal, handball, korfball or floorball courts and 12 volleyball courts.

Parakiore's Show Courts are almost the size of a supermarket at 2,900 square metres, purpose-built to host televised games and high-performance sport.

Connecting place and environment

Outside the building, over 19,500 native plants and trees will grow to surround the facility, reinforcing connection to place and environment. On the ‘pools’ side are various plants and trees which reflect the waterways, rivers and lakes of the Canterbury district. And on the ‘courts’ side are more forest and grassland-like structures seen throughout the Canterbury Plains.

The landscaping also functions as a stormwater management system with the water draining into three central swales, where plants will filter out particulates, before the water enters the stormwater system for further treatment, in preparation for leaving the site.

Engineering innovation below ground

Due to the site selected for Parakiore’s build, one of the primary challenges of the facility’s development was addressing difficult geotechnical conditions.

Post-earthquake, soil liquefaction became a critical concern in Christchurch's rebuild. Extensive geotechnical investigations revealed that the Parakiore site required significant ground improvement to support the facility's substantial loads and ensure long-term performance under seismic conditions.

  • Interior view of timber roof over Parakiore's competition pool.
  • Exterior view of hydro slides: Parakiore fills a critical gap in Canterbury's sporting infrastructure while serving as a community anchor.
  • Exterior view of Parakiore's Southern Entry: Open spaces are designed to complement the facility and reflect the unique landscapes of the Canterbury region.
  • Aerial view of Parakiore: Open spaces are designed to complement the facility and reflect the unique landscapes of the Canterbury region.
  • View of lobby: Parakiore is a testament to Christchurch's resilience and our commitment to helping communities recover and thrive.
  • Southern view of lobby at the Parakiore featuring staircase.
  • Interior view of timber roof over Parakiore's competition pool.

Parakiore's Southern Entry: New Zealand's largest aquatic and sports centre is setting new standards for inclusive and sustainable recreational spaces.

Soil liquefaction occurs when saturated soil loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, such as shaking during an earthquake. To rebuild on this soil is problematic, so Aurecon engineered 8,000 stone columns to be driven 12 metres below ground to support the structural integrity of the building. This is the biggest use of stone columns in New Zealand’s construction history.

The other major engineering challenge is the high water table underneath Christchurch. Aurecon had to ensure that this did not affect the stability of the swimming pools when they were emptied for maintenance. Aurecon raised the concourse floor levels to offset the risk of liquefaction induced floatation of the pools and engineered deep pool slabs to resist uplift when the pools are empty.

Digital engineering enabling collaboration

The team employed advanced digital engineering capabilities to enable seamless collaboration across multiple delivery offices and project partners. A cloud-hosted ‘single point of truth’ Autodesk 360 Engineering BIM model underpinned design development in the highly collaborative environment.

During the design phases, this BIM model was released to the project Quantity Surveyor for extracting real-time quantities in their CostX quantity surveying package.

Warm pool in Parakiore's aquatic leisure area.

Sustainable innovation

Parakiore incorporates a unique and sustainable approach to water heating, using excess energy from Christchurch’s wastewater network to heat the pool water and pool spaces, rather than relying on more traditional heating methods such as natural gas. The system, which extracts 3,500 kW of energy from the wastewater network, saves a significant amount on heating expenditure per annum. Additional heating and cooling is provided through energy efficient heat pump units and processes around pool room temperature.

Warm pool in Parakiore's aquatic leisure area.

Delivering transformation

Parakiore fills a critical gap in Canterbury's sporting infrastructure while serving as a community anchor, a place bringing people together after devastating natural events. The facility is expected to deliver significant economic benefits to Christchurch through hosting major local, national and international tournaments and events, attracting over two million visits annually, and providing employment for over 150 staff.

Aurecon has worked on a number of regeneration projects across Christchurch since the earthquakes. Parakiore represents one of the most technically challenging projects in this recovery programme, requiring innovative engineering solutions to complex geotechnical, structural, and operational challenges.

The project showcases how engineering excellence, digital innovation, and collaborative partnerships can overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges to deliver transformative community infrastructure, establishing Parakiore as a testament to Christchurch's resilience and our commitment to helping communities recover and thrive.

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