Te Hā Noa Te Hā Noa (Stage 1) - Victoria Street

About the project

Midtown is changing fast, and Te Hā Noa on Victoria Street is a key part of that change. It will make Victoria Street greener and easier to move through, with safer and more spacious walking and cycling connections to support the thousands of people who will use the City Rail Link’s Te Waihorotiu Station, expected to open later in 2026.

We’re now preparing to resume works and start the final section on Victoria Street East (between Queen and High / Lorne Streets) to complete Stage 1 of Te Hā Noa (Kitchener Street to Elliott Street), once Watercare disestablishes their site in April 2026.

Most of Te Hā Noa is already complete and this final section will complete Stage 1. When finished Victoria Street will have one vehicle lanes in each direction, wide tree-lined footpaths with places to sit, street furniture, public art and a designated cycle lane.

Click here to view the Te Hā Noa: Stage 1 remaining works infopack.

The concept of Te Hā Noa on Victoria Street extends from Waikōkota/Victoria Park and Rangipuke/Albert Park with stage 1 covering the section of Victoria Street between Federal and Kitchener Streets.

See construction timelapse below on the section from Elliott to Queen Streets:

 

Why are we doing this work?

Tāmaki Makaurau is growing, and Victoria Street is an important space in the ongoing development of our diverse city centre. We need it to be a great place for Aucklanders and visitors to get around and enjoy, including the thousands of people who will enter and exit Te Waihorotiu Station every day from Victoria Street.

Auckland’s City Centre Masterplan 2020 identifies Te Hā Noa Victoria Street as a centrepiece of Transformational move 6: The Green Link. The Masterplan envisages the transformation of Victoria Street from a multi-lane urban arterial to an urban living room or ‘breakout space’ for those living, visiting and working in the area. The design incorporates more trees, seating and space to walk and cycle, providing access to greenery through the city centre.

The City Rail Link will change our city for the better, making the city an even more attractive place to live and work, connecting more people to more choices for employment, education, recreation, social and cultural opportunities. Alongside the many thousands of commuters, shoppers, students and residents, others will get off a train or bus and use Victoria Street as part of their journey to visit the Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Civic Theatre, Sky Tower and many other institutions and landmarks in the city centre.

We’re doing this work, and other important work in midtown, to improve the experience of our city centre for everyone, making it safer, more accessible and easier to use public transport.

 

 

What’s involved

We recognise that the work to regenerate midtown can’t be done without some disruption, and we're working to reduce the impact on you as much as we can. We’re coordinating with other council group projects in the midtown area as well as utilities companies to futureproof the city for further growth in the years to come. This get-it-right-first-time coordination makes it more complex now but should prevent significant disruption in the future.

We’ll be completing streetscape work in carefully planned stages to minimise disruption to properties, businesses and residents.

The Te Hā Noa upgrades on Victoria Street will generally involve the following steps:

1. Utilities trenching and upgrades
2. New curbs for the wider footpaths
3. Base preparation and concrete pour for new footpaths
4. Paving of the new footpaths in the Queen Street intersection area, including grouting and sealing
5. Road milling, asphalting and line marking
6. Installation of new furniture, tree pits, greenery and lighting

For more information on construction and how you can get support if you're impacted, visit our midtown neighbourhood page.

Who is doing the construction?

Auckland Council appointed JFC Ltd to construct Te Hā Noa. JFC is an experienced civil construction company, with a strong track record in Auckland's city centre, having recently delivered streetscape upgrades on Te Wai Horotiu Queen Street, Federal Street (between Mayoral Drive and Wellesley Street) and Karangahape Road.

Partnering with mana whenua

We've been working in close partnership with mana whenua (Māori tribal groups who have historical and territorial rights over this area) through the establishment of the project and have worked with them on project outcomes.

The project is privileged to have been gifted a working title from the mana whenua project working group: Te Hā Noa. Te Hā Noa means to freely experience one’s surroundings, to breathe and acknowledge the sights and sounds whilst journeying within the city centre and the link between Waikōkota/Victoria Park and Rangipuke/Albert Park.

Te Hā – the breath in Māori terms is the essence of life itself, encompassing all the senses, and Noa – is to be free within the journey to experience.

Journeying from the middle ridges that form through ways of breathing, create a pulse and rhythm of ‘Hā’ (breath) within the city centre and to the lower part of the city between Karangahape and the Waitematā.  Through this movement the ‘Hā’ is the hub, or nucleus, that brings into existence pockets of vitality and breathing life into the city; coming alive.

We are grateful to be working with mana whenua representatives and Māori artists in the development of two significant public art pieces, and co-designing elements of street furniture, such as drinking fountains.

To find out more about our partnership with Mana Whenua on this project please read our Cultural Design Framework.

Te Hā Noa Victoria Street Project Design features:

The following features have been incorporated into the design for Te Hā Noa.  

Pedestrians

• More space for people on foot with much wider footpaths on both sides of the street

• Spaces with new street furniture and water fountains featuring Māori designs. People can use these spaces to rest, meet friends, eat and enjoy the surroundings

Māori art

• Two significant new public artworks are planned for the street as part of the development

Planting

• 20 large native trees will be planted, adding to the city’s expanding urban ngāhere (forest), providing shade and shelter, cooling the city and soaking up carbon

• Tree pits have been designed to help manage stormwater flow and for passive irrigation

• Garden beds will resemble the volcanic history of Tāmaki Makaurau. They will be planted with native lush understory plants to provide urban greening

• More greenery provides a more pleasant backyard for those who call the city centre home

Cycling and active mode facilities  

• A bi-directional separated cycleway on the southern side of the street, which is separated from vehicles and pedestrians by a continuous concrete separator, will provide a safer journey for people on bikes

• Cycling and scooter parking will be provided along the street and access will be provided onto and off the cycleway

Parking and loading requirements  

• Four loading zones will be provided, two zones on each side of Queen Street on the north side of the road

Dates

Public engagement on the preliminary design of this first section ran from 6 October to 9 November 2021 with 143 people and key stakeholders providing their feedback.

Building on Te Hā Noa Stage 1 works delivered by Link Alliance around Te Waihorotiu Station to support the City Rail Link, Auckland Council began construction on the Victoria Street section between Elliott Street and Kitchener Street in April 2023, with most of this section completed and opened in October 2024. 

The remaining Stage 1 section on Victoria Street (Queen Street to the Kitchener Street / Albert Park end) is expected to recommence in April 2026, once Watercare disestablishes and hands back the site.

Further Information

To find out more about the project, you can check out the project's Indicative Business Case and the Detailed Business Case links below. 

Indicative Business Case Detailed Business Case

Delivered by

Auckland Council with construction carried out by JFC.

Feedback

Thank you for your patience while we complete this final section of Te Hā Noa Stage 1. We’ll continue with regular updates as works progress and will do our best to minimise disruption and maintain safe access.

If you have any feedback, need more information or support during construction (e.g. Small Business Support Programme, local activations or on-street safety), please get in touch and we can connect you with the right team.

If you have any construction related questions or queries please contact:
sally.logan@jfcltd.co.nz or 021 420 794

For more information regarding the project:
Email midtown@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz 
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