Wellington’s Cake Tin, take a back seat. You’ll have nothing on Christchurch when The Pavlova opens its turnstiles to the public.

Officially it’s called Te Kaha but in the images of the final design, doesn’t our new stadium look just like a big egg-white meringue? The only thing missing is some kiwifruit or strawberries on the roof.

Christchurch’s latest architectural confection already dominates the inner-city skyline, its roof supports now towering above the surrounding streets.

Here at Cityscape, we were delighted to tour the Te Kaha worksite with Adrian Jones, project director for the contractor, BESIX Watpac, and Kent Summerfield, project director for CMUA Project Delivery Ltd.

What blows us away immediately is the sheer scale of the project. As we circle the perimeter, the clanging and banging brings to mind a shipyard. Construction teams beaver away wherever we look and cranes swing their cargoes of material to where today’s action is.

Kent’s been involved in large-scale construction projects for several years now but never anything on this scale. There are not many opportunities to build a stadium, especially in your home town.

Originally from Ashburton, Kent remembers travelling up to rugby games and rock concerts at the old Lancaster Park. Te Kaha will be special for its own reasons, he feels. Being covered means much more comfort for punters and more certainty for promoters.

Adrian's heart might be green and gold but his head is firmly in this project.

Many of the BESIX Watpac team have come to Christchurch direct from building another project of similar scale, the North Queensland Stadium. Some of the team have worked on almost every stadium built in Queensland for the past 30 years, including ones much bigger than Te Kaha and North Queensland.

Tour done, we hand over our hard hats and hi-viz, shake hands and head back onto the street. Above us tower the stadium’s gleaming white roof supports. Just waiting for the topping.

te-kaha.co.nz