Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland - Friday 11 September: The official opening ceremonies of Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) were held earlier this month, marking the culmination of Grimshaw’s decade-long involvement from the original business case through to delivery. CRL is New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project, a city-shaping investment that will transform how Auckland moves, connects and grows for generations to come.
Grimshaw has collaboratively led the design that has shaped the three new stations, combining world-class transport infrastructure with stories, identities and narratives unique to Tāmaki Makaurau. Working in a collaborative partnership with Mana Whenua and City Rail Link Ltd, our construction and design partners and the wider project team, we have helped create civic places that are deeply connected to their communities and the city.
CRL creates Auckland’s first underground railway, extending the former terminus at Waitematā and connecting Waitematā to Maungawhauand the wider rail network. By doubling network capacity and adding new city-centre stations, it will support Auckland’s population, projectedto reach 2.3 million by 2050, making central Auckland more accessible and better connected.
Grimshaw’s involvement began in 2012 with Jasmax and Mott MacDonald as part of the Aurecon-led technical advisory consortiumcontributing to the business case before leading station architecture and urban-interface design through reference design. Following LinkAlliance’s appointment in 2019, Grimshaw became Architecture Lead for delivery of Te Waihorotiu, Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhaustations, working with WSP Architects and the wider Link Alliance team. This continuity has carried the project’s founding design intent fromstrategy to delivery.
The architectural strategy was developed in partnership with Mana Whenua and guided by the Te Aranga Māori Design Principles. Drawing on Te Ao Mārama, the Māori creation story narrative, it establishes a shared sequence and language across the stations while allowing each place to express the narratives unique for its location.
Grimshaw worked with artists nominated by Mana Whenua to translate those narratives into the passenger experience, architecture and material detail. Graham Tipene’s work informs Te Waihorotiu; Reuben Kirkwood’s work informs Karanga-a-Hape; and Tessa Harris’s work informs Maungawhau. Cultural expression is therefore integral to the stations rather than applied as a separate layer.
A consistent kit of parts - including wall linings, ceilings, floors, canopies, skylights, balustrades, screens, vertical transport, signage and operational equipment - creates a coherent passenger experience across mined, cut-and-cover and surface-station conditions. Common materials and coordinated datums support repeatability, ease of procurement and construction, while flexible systems allow each station’s architecture and artwork to respond to its own site and identity.
Early contractor involvement within the Link Alliance model brought buildability, methodology, cost and programme into the design process from preliminary design onward. Grimshaw and WSP led architectural coordination across the consultant team, working with contractors and fabricators to refine the system without losing the cultural narratives or civic quality established at the project’s outset.
The City Rail Link’s legacy will be measured not only in faster journeys and increased capacity, but in how it reshapes Auckland’s urban experience. The new stations extend the public realm, improve access to the city centre and create foundations for social, economic and environmental regeneration. The project’s procurement and delivery also prioritised employment and training opportunities for Māori, Pacifica peoples and Rangatahi (youth), creating social value beyond the physical works.
“This is infrastructure that will change forever how Auckland moves. Its enduring value lies in the relationship between transport, public space and cultural identity - a network designed for Tāmaki Makaurau and the generations who will use it.”
Mark Middleton, Group Managing Partner, Grimshaw
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Project: City Rail Link (CRL), Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
Client: City Rail Link Ltd
Main delivery partner: Link Alliance
Scope: Station Architecture Design Lead, from reference design to delivery; earlier business-case and technical-advisory roles
Stations: Te Waihorotiu, Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau
Approximate station area: 18,500 m² across the three stations
Construction value: NZ$5.493 billion at completion
Completion: The project opens to passengers on Sunday 13 September, 2026
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