Longevity Sealed into New Christchurch Stadium

Christchurch’s new world-class Multi-Use Arena, Te Kaha, will be a symbol of resilience and strength when it opens in 2026. Christchurch City Council is the Principal and Asset Owner of the fully enclosed arena for the Canterbury region.

Soudal is proud to supply the fire rated and flexible sealants used by the primary sealant installer on all precast panel joints throughout this multi-use arena to ensure they remain robust and weathertight. It’s by far the largest construction project Soudal has ever supplied in New Zealand, with close to 15,000 sausages of sealant expected to be used by The Connect Group by the time construction wraps up.

Unique solution

The Connect Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Carl Wright, says Soudal was chosen to supply the sealants required because of their technical knowledge and willingness to collaborate to solve a design issue.

In high traffic areas such as the bleachers, a sharp stiletto heel or some aggregate grit stuck on the bottom of someone’s shoe could potentially pierce or wear down a sealant over time. That would compromise the fire rated sealant’s performance and the structure’s ability to slow the spread of fire if one ever broke out.

Design and Construct contractor, BESIX Watpac engaged The Connect Group and together sought Soudal’s advice on how to maintain both fire rating capabilities and weathertightness in this situation. Together, they devised an innovative solution featuring a ‘double decker’ layer of two different Soudal sealants. Soudaseal® FR (a fire rated elastic joint sealant that provides up to 4 hours of fire resistance by design) has been applied to each joint at a certain depth, followed by Soudaseal 270HS over the top – a flexible yet hard-wearing trafficable sealant that’s virtually impossible to budge.

“Soudal knew the extent to which their products could perform,” Carl says. “They put forward a series of products that would allow us and BESIX Watpac to get the result we wanted and worked collaboratively with us to come up with strategies. They really stepped up.”

Closing the gap

Te Kaha’s complex design required Soudal to help problem-solve a variety of issues alongside fire and structural engineers to effectively seal horizontal and vertical connection joint gaps ranging from 10mm-40mm wide. The company’s expertise and solid technical data gave The Connect Group confidence to tackle these larger gaps, knowing that Soudal’s products are fully capable of doing the job.

“It’s great to have a company that knows the boundaries of its products and has done the testing so therefore has no problem recommending a product straightaway and saying, ‘this will do the job.’ The products do what Soudal says they will do.”

The application of the Soudal products will enhance the longevity of Te Kaha, ensuring concrete and steel components remain weathertight for a minimum of 15 years. With regular maintenance and inspection, these sealants will last for decades to come.

Hands-on service

Soudal’s robust supply chain and exceptional customer sales and service has also been a huge plus for The Connect Group.

The sealants were manufactured in Belgium for this project and Soudal worked tirelessly to ensure that the right quantity was delivered to site when needed. This supply chain was carefully managed to ensure other Soudal New Zealand customers weren’t left empty-handed, and no-one was adversely affected by this record-sized order.

“We’ve had no issues with supply or deliveries,” Carl confirms. “Because there’s such a large quantity of product available, our applicators are just getting faster and faster with it which means the product is not holding up our production.”

Soudal provided on-site education and guidance to The Connect Group applicators, some of whom were using Soudal products for the first time. “Our applicators are very experienced and they have found Soudal sealants tool off really well and are easy to apply. We need our suppliers to work with our teams so they can use products to their full potential… Soudal were always available if we had any issues or questions.”

Strong relationships

The Connect Group and Soudal have now formed a close relationship to deliver a first-class result for the people of Christchurch. “Our Connect Group team are absolutely stoked. Their supply and service has been really good. Soudal are always innovating and bringing in new products… we’re keen to keep the relationship going.”

BESIX Watpac agrees, with Project Engineer Kate Griffiths saying they would “definitely” consider using Soudal on other large-scale projects in the future.

“The technical support from Soudal has been very helpful, fast and reliable. Soudal has managed to meet all of the fire rating, seismic and architectural requirements. At the beginning of this project, I emailed the leading manufacturers of sealants within New Zealand and researched very specific details regarding seismic aspects and compatibility with other materials. Soudal had the widest spectrum of usage of materials and products, and the price was also very competitive.”

Once construction is complete, Te Kaha will feature 25,000 permanent seats, with the option to add 5,000 more. (and can host up to 36,000 people for concerts) – all of whom can rest assured that every construction joint seal will remain strong and intact thanks to Soudal.