Christchurch stadium tender awarded to Australian-led consortium

Ground is set to be broken on Canterbury's multi-use arena site early next year after the construction tender was awarded to Australian firm BESIX Watpac.

• This story was first published by RNZ

The firm will lead a consortium of companies that will carry out the design and build of the $473 million arena.

The consortium, called Kōtui, will begin working on detailed designs for the arena in the coming weeks.

Kōtui includes Southbase Construction, Fulton Hogan, local seismic engineering specialists Lewis Bradford, Christchurch architects Warren and Mahoney, and global stadium design experts Populous and Mott MacDonald.

The combined experience has designed and built more than 400 stadiums worldwide.

BESIX Watpac chief executive Jean-Pol Bouharmont said there would be considerable activity onsite prior to construction beginning due to a geotechnical investigation being undertaken.

The decision to build the arena was voted in favour 15 votes to 1 in 2019 by the city council.

The cost would be split roughly 50-50 between council and the government.

Canterbury Multi-Use Arena (CMUA) Project Delivery Board chair Murray Strong said Kōtui's tender application was a clear stand-out.

"The Kōtui consortium ticked all of the boxes for every member of the selection panel; every organisation involved in Kōtui will bring an exceptional level of expertise to the project. BESIX Watpac has an outstanding track record of building premier international stadia on time and within budget, and we look forward to utilising their expertise through the CMUA's design and construction process."

The CMUA is Christchurch's final anchor project.