‘Milky Way’ Inspires CRL Station Design

Elders from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland iwi led a traditional dawn blessing today for a symbolic unveiling of the distinctive panels that wrap around the upper levels of City Rail Link’s Karanga-a-Hape Station.

The project’s main delivery partner, Link Alliance, lifted more than a hundred of the blue and white panels, each one containing a selection of blue and white aluminium fins, to complete what is known as the station’s sky element – panels that serve both a modern-day function while acknowledging the city’s cultural heritage.

They protect Karanga-a-Hape’s ventilation and air intake systems while their diamond pattern design represents Te Ātea, the stars of the eternal cosmos, and the place of Aotearoa New Zealand in Te Ikaroa (the Milky Way).

“Aucklanders already know that we’re delivering a world-class railway and now they have a further reminder that it is one unique to their city as well,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive. “We have a very positive partnership with iwi through our Mana Whenua Forum and the great, distinctly Tāmaki Makaurau, contribution the Forum is making is something I am immensely proud of.”

Karanga-a-Hape’s sky element is designed by iwi artist Reuben Kirkwood (Ngāi Tai) alongside Link Alliance’s architecture team.

"Reuben's work beautifully encapsulates the binding of the spiritual and mortal realms in an otherwise contemporary urban setting, elevating the Mercury Lane elevation at Karanga-a-Hape to the ethereal,” says Adrian Pettit from CRL’s Mana Whenua Forum.

Sky elements and their ties to Māori tradition and storytelling were unveiled earlier this year at CRL’s two other new stations, Te Waihorotiu and Maungawhau.

Designs at all three stations reflect the Māori creation myth of Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother), and their son Tāne Mahuta, the god of the forest. Traditional designs at Karanga-a-Hape Station also acknowledge the story of Hape, a significant ancestor who journeyed to Aotearoa on the back of a stingray.

Fit outs continue across all three stations. When CRL opens in 2026, Karanga-a-Hape will be New Zealand’s deepest railway station with platforms 33 metres below ground.

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