A design comprising of more than 100 blue and white panels has been unveiled at the City Rail Link’s Karanga-a-Hape Station in Auckland.
The CRL, a 3.45km underground rail link, is expected to be completed late next year, Auckland Transport’s website said.
The development will include two new stations: Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape.
This morning, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland iwi led a dawn blessing at the Karanga-a-Hape site, which is located at Mercury Lane near Karangahape Road.
Each of the panels contains “a selection of blue and white aluminium fins, to complete what is known as the station’s sky element”.
“Their diamond pattern design represents Te Ātea, the stars of the eternal cosmos, and the place of Aotearoa New Zealand in Te Ikaroa (the Milky Way).”
And the panels serve a practical purpose too, protecting the station’s ventilation and air intake systems.
Sean Sweeney, the City Rail Link Limited’s chief executive, said: “Aucklanders already know that we’re delivering a world-class railway and now they have a further reminder that it is one unique to their city as well.”
The “sky element” was designed by iwi artist Reuben Kirkwood (Ngāi Tai) alongside architects.
“Reuben’s work beautifully encapsulates the binding of the spiritual and mortal realms in an otherwise contemporary urban setting,” Adrian Pettit from the CRL’s Mana Whenua Forum said.
Maungawhau station in Mt Eden and Waitematā Station (Britomart) were also redeveloped as part of the CRL project.
“Designs at all three stations reflect the Māori creation myth of Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother), and their son Tāne Mahuta, the god of the forest.
“Traditional designs at Karanga-a-Hape Station also acknowledge the story of Hape, a significant ancestor who journeyed to Aotearoa on the back of a stingray.
“When CRL opens in 2026, Karanga-a-Hape will be New Zealand’s deepest railway station with platforms 33 metres below ground.”
The project will cost around $5.493 billion.
