Sports and Aquatic

Project Details

To support Selwyn’s growing population, council set out to create a new indoor sports facility that would serve its community now and into the future. Apollo was delighted at the opportunity to design and build this stunning 8,000m² facility which includes:

• Eight indoor courts - four with a specialised synthetic surface for multi-use and the other four with high-performance sprung timber flooring.
• 240-metre jogging tracks on the mezzanine level.
• Multipurpose rooms with kitchen facilities, spin-bike room, change facilities (both indoor and outdoor) and two premier football rooms.
• NZ’s fist Lu Uno interactive playground wall that turns the facility into an immersive video game through lights, sounds, and videos.

The timber courts were named after New Zealand cricketer, administrator, and champion for this project, John F. Reid, who sadly passed away during the centre’s construction.

To meet the client brief and open in time for the winter 2021 sports season, the design was completed in two stages. Stage one included the main courts and stage two included changing rooms and front and back of house offices. This allowed Apollo to construct the main portal frame and 6,000m² of new playing area, whilst concurrently working through the design of administration and changing spaces.

COVID introduced several challenges for the project team, including international supply chain disruptions. One key concern was the maple-sprung timber floor, imported from Canada, which raised uncertainty around global shipping delays, but was successfully managed. Another challenge arose when New Zealand’s border closures prevented the Australian engineering firm from installing the sports equipment, which had been sourced from Australia. Apollo overcame this by upskilling local tradespeople and coordinating installation remotely through multiple Zoom sessions, ensuring the project stayed on track.

Apollo’s innovation and collaboration led to a fantastic facility, delivered on time and within budget with opening weekend attractions thousands of visitors.