Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre

30 June 2025: NZ’s first aquatic sensory experience taking shape

Sinks are being sliced, custom-made hand pumps are being cast, and bubbling tubes are being illuminated as bespoke features for New Zealand’s first aquatic sensory experience take shape in Christchurch.

More than just a recreational facility, Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre will include a unique multi-sensory aquatic environment, specifically designed to foster exploration and play for individuals with sensory or disability needs. Read more on Newsline(external link).

22 May 2025: Recruitment ramping up

Christchurch City Council is on the hunt for lifeguards, customer experience representatives, event staff – and more – for Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. The recruitment drive for the country’s biggest aquatic and indoor sport facility is ramping up, with around 185 roles to be filled over the next few months. A drop-in information session for anyone interested in learning more about the available roles is being held on Wednesday 4 June, 3:30pm – 7pm, at Tūranga. Learn more here(external link).

20 February 2025: Recruitment underway

Christchurch City Council is embarking on its largest-ever recruitment drive ahead of Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre opening later this year. The Council will be looking to fill around 200 positions at the aquatic and indoor sports facility currently under construction on Moorhouse Avenue in central Christchurch. Team leader roles will be advertised in late February, with the majority of recruitment taking place from June to August. An information session will be held at Tūranga on Wednesday 5 March from 4pm to 6pm. Anyone interested in learning more about the roles is encouraged to come along. Full details(external link).

11 November 2024: Parakiore a springboard for Diving NZ’s Olympic hopes

New Zealand divers will soon be on a level playing field with their international counterparts, as the assembly of the state-of-the-art dive pool and tower is now underway at Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. The purpose-built dry diving space, where harnessed athletes land in a foam pit, is also a game-changer. In addition to dry diving, Parakiore will feature wide platforms essential for synchronised diving training, a major component of the sport. Read more(external link).

1 October 2024: Versatile indoor sports courts nearing completion

Work on one of New Zealand's most versatile indoor court spaces is nearing completion, with 3500 metres of line markings now on the floor at Christchurch's under-construction Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. Read more(external link).

10 September 2024: Competition pool installation underway

A significant milestone for aquatics infrastructure in the South Island has been reached, with the construction of the 50-metre competition pool now underway at Christchurch’s Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. The competition pool will also feature a state-of-the-art movable floor at one end, designed to vary the pool depth from 2.2 metres for competitive swimming to ground level, ideal for events and dryland activities. Read more(external link).

9 August 2024: Parakiore court floor installation underway

The Olympic Games may be underway in Paris, but in Christchurch court flooring of the same calibre is being installed at Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. The 110 x 45m community court area has enough space for six indoor netball/basketball/futsal courts along with line markings for volleyball, badminton, handball, korfball, and floorball. Read more(external link).

13 June 2024: 20,000 native plants and trees at Parakiore

One of the largest planting projects in central Christchurch is underway. Almost 20,000 new plants and trees are being planted around the under-construction Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. 933 trees up to three metres tall are being added to the site, along with 18,613 plants. Read more(external link).

27 October 2023: Council responds to Parakiore disputes claim

Christchurch residents and groups might be forced to wait until at least mid-2025 to use the Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre, after further delays and a legal dispute between the delivery agency and contractor were announced today.

The new delay stems from a cost escalation dispute between the contractor, CPB, and the Crown’s delivery agency, Rau Paenga (formerly Ōtākaro Ltd). CPB has increased its claim from an additional $212m to $439m to complete Parakiore. The major anchor project is more than 70 per cent complete. Read more(external link).

27 February 2023: HPI to be the operator of Parakiore's movement arts studios

Local organisation Human Performance Incorporated (HPI) has been appointed as the operator of the new moving arts studios at Parakiore. HPI will oversee the running of the $7 million, three-studio MOVE centre at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre that will cater to dance, dive-acrobatics and circo-arts. Read more(external link).

2 December 2022: Completion delay announcement

Ōtākaro announced that Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre construction is now expected to be completed in 2024 and open in 2025. 

August 2022: Latest newsletter

It's been more than 20 years since a competition dive tower was constructed in New Zealand, so anyone travelling along Moorhouse Ave is witnessing a unique piece of construction. 

Recently the supports for the 5m and 7.5m dive platforms were added to the tower. Read more.(external link)

23 February 2022: Christchurch getting NZ's biggest indoor hydroslides

Five eel-inspired hydroslides have begun to reveal themselves at Christchurch’s Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, with installation work now underway. Read more on Newsline(external link).

8 April 2021: Parakiore name gifting

Councillors voted to accept a special name gifted by local rūnanga Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri for the complex. The facility's new name, Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, pays homage to the youngest son of Ngāi Tahu chief Tūrākautahi, Parakiore, who was renowned for his amazing running speed and athleticism. Read more on Newsline(external link).

7 September 2020: Performance Movement Centre opportunity opens

Now's the time to apply for the exciting opportunity to manage Performance Movement Centre studio spaces in the Metro Sports Facility. Applications close at noon Monday 2 November 2020. Register your interest on GETS(external link) using reference number TD22941818.

17 August 2020: Call for feedback on NZ’s first aquatic sensory experience

Metro Sports Facility will include a New Zealand-first aquatic sensory experience area specially designed for disabled people. The Council is inviting people to provide feedback on the high-tech multi-sensory environment that’s designed to benefit people of all ages and abilities, particularly those with disability. Read more on Newsline.(external link)

26 May 2020: Metro Sports Facility’s eco-friendly energy system is an NZ first

Sewage will heat up Christchurch’s new Metro Sports Facility. In a first for New Zealand, the country’s largest aquatic and indoor recreation venue will utilise an unlikely heat source that runs under St Asaph Street towards the wastewater treatment plant. Read more on Newsline.(external link)

• 10-lane, 50-metre competition pool with an operable 1.5-metre-wide boom
• 1000 aquatic spectator seats
• 20 x 25.4-metre diving pool
• Aquatic leisure facility
• Five hydroslides
• Learn to swim pool
• Warm water pool/spa/sauna/steam room
• Birthday party room
• Multipurpose indoor courts with the capacity for nine netball courts and other indoor sports codes
• 2500 retractable spectator seats in the Show Court
• Gym/weights facility
• Group fitness rooms
• Allied Health facilities
• Performance movement centre
• Aquatic sensory experience
• High-performance sports centre with facilities for coaching and training
• Sports House – shared administration area for regional sport
• Facility administration areas
• VIP and media areas
• Café and supporting and satellite food and beverage facilities
• Facility parking

Floor plans

• Ground floor [PDF, 14 MB]
• Level 1 [PDF, 4.8 MB]
• Level 2 [PDF, 4 MB]
• Level 3 [PDF, 2.5 MB]

Designs

Parakiore leisure water area

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre competition pool

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre dive well

Parakiore change area

Parakiore central hub

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre community courts

Parakiore northern entrance

Parakiore Aquatic Sensory Experience

Parakiore Performance Movement Centre

Parakiore southern entrance

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre show court

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre hydroslides

Parakiore's innovative heating system

Waste water heat recovery system

Waste water heat recovery system

Pipes for the new waste water heat recovery system

Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre will be the first of its kind in New Zealand to use the central city’s wastewater system to provide all of the facility’s heating.

About 30 per cent of all household energy is used to generate hot water, and every day this heat is sent into the wastewater network. This makes wastewater an enormous container of thermal energy and an untapped resource for cities.

This thermal energy map(external link) that Smart Alliances created in 2018 shows the large amount of potential heat that’s available through Christchurch’s larger wastewater pipes in the network.

Parakiore’s technology will take wastewater from the pipes beneath the roads and screen out the solids. The wastewater will then flow through a heat exchanger before both the water and solids are returned to the network.

The heat taken from the sewerage is then transferred to another flow loop that’s designed to extract up to 3,500-kilowatts of energy – that’s enough energy to power 35,000 100-watt lightbulbs.

The system has been designed so that it’s impossible for the wastewater to contact the pool water that it will heat.

Crown agency Rau Paenga is overseeing the delivery of the Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre. 

For more information and the latest updates on Parakiore’s construction, visit raupaenga.co.nz(external link). 

Milestones