Te Waihorotiu station, located in Auckland’s midtown, will have entrances on Victoria and Wellesley Streets and is expected to become New Zealand’s busiest station.
It is close to Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall, Q Theatre, The Civic Theatre, SkyCity, Auckland Art Gallery and Central Library.
The station design
This will greet you at the entrance
This will be the amazing view when you enter the main entrance at our new midtown Te Waihorotiu Station and look up.
The aluminium rods were installed as part of the Wellesley St entrance building’s feature ceiling – just above the ticket gate line.
Four thousand rods are designed to mimic the stems of raupo (reeds) and the movement of water – creating a rippled lighting effect.
Then to complete the installation came this kauri carving designed in collaboration with Paraone Luiten-Apirana ((Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Arawa) and Graham Tipene of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
The carving represents Horotiu - the ‘kaitiaki’ or guardian looking after the people and supporting the abundance of life-giving energy in the area.
Horotiu is tucked in the bed of reeds, undulating in the Te Waihorotiu stream – the historic stream which used to meander through what is now Myers Park / Queen Street area.
Points of light among the reeds mirror and reflect the starlight sky above and provide functional lighting at the gateway to the station.
Horotiu faces to the east, providing a warm welcome to all who arrive and a gentle haere rā or farewell to those leaving the station
CRL's longstanding partnership with Mana Whenua, including artist Grahame Tipene, is evident in the stunning designs of Te Waihorotiu Station which has Māoritanga intrinsically woven throughout.
At the Wellesley Street station entrance foyer, the undulating pattern of the hanging rods in the ceiling design mimics the Waihorotiu Stream, moving and connecting people in place as they flow through the station.
The gifted name Te Waihorotiu
Arā noa atu ngā manga iti o Waihorotiu, e tupu nei te mauri, e tupu nei te ora (There are many branches and watercourses of Waihorotiu where life and vitality flourishes)
This name has been gifted in recognition of the Waihorotiu stream and wetland system that flowed in close proximity to the station, past the Horotiu pā down to the Waitematā, providing fresh water for iwi living nearby in the past.
The station’s gifted te reo Māori name reflects the link between the past and present. The past where the original water source at Waihorotiu provided a service to local people for cooking, cleaning, bathing and growing food, to the present where Te Waihorotiu station will soon provide the service of transport.
New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa invited the public to make a submission on the proposed names of the City Rail Link stations. These were open public submissions were open until 9 November 2022 and a decision was announced on 16 March 2023. Read the decision
