McKay completes waterfront lighting upgrade in Wellington

McKay has completed a waterfront lighting project for Wellington City Council at the Te Papa and Taranaki promenades, finishing in time for the Pride Parade and the final Homegrown Festival in March 2025.

The project covered two busy public spaces on Wellington's waterfront. It involved new decorative lighting, associated power and fibre connections, and marine construction beneath the wharf. The aim was to improve visibility, make the area more inviting after dark, enable programmable lighting for special events, and integrate Māori artwork.

Teams from Wellington, Hamilton and Whangārei worked on the contract. They installed 19 decorative lighting poles, each weighing 500kg, and removed 21 existing poles along the two promenades.

The work also included 3.6km of new power and lighting circuits and 2km of fibre. These connections ran under the wharf and above the water to supply the new poles.

Two new switchboards formed part of the job, along with a custom marine containment system to protect the power and lighting circuits along the length of the wharf. The project also included under-wharf footings completed with support from Underwater Solutions, upgrades to under-wharf walers, and installation and commissioning of the lighting control system.

Site constraints

Much of the project took place over water, requiring access by floating platform and boat, as well as coordination with a marine construction specialist. Public access to the wharf also had to remain open throughout construction.

Those constraints shaped how the work was carried out. With restaurants and bars operating in the area, night work was not possible, so crews completed the electrical and marine work during the day, in full public view, through the peak summer period.

The schedule tightened further after a delay to the original start. Planned to begin on 1 November 2024, the project shifted to 6 January 2025 because of delays in the council's engineering consent process, but the completion deadline remained in early March.

Despite the shorter timeframe, all work was completed by 7 March. The finished system included both white and RGB lighting, fully commissioned in time for the waterfront events.

Public infrastructure

McKay said the project drew on more than 30 years of experience in streetlighting for councils and private-sector clients across New Zealand. It also highlighted its broader involvement in infrastructure projects for local and central government agencies.

The Wellington waterfront scheme reflects a wider pattern in urban public space projects, where councils combine amenity, safety and event programming in a single infrastructure upgrade. In this case, the programmable lighting and integrated artwork meant the installation had to meet both practical and civic requirements.

The project's marine element also underscored the complexity of upgrading public infrastructure in established waterfront environments. Running power and fibre beneath an active wharf while maintaining access for visitors and nearby hospitality venues created operational constraints less common in standard streetlighting work.

The completed project has transformed the Te Papa and Taranaki Promenades with modern, programmable lighting designed to support both everyday waterfront use and major public events. The upgraded infrastructure also provides Wellington City Council with a durable lighting solution that integrates safety, functionality and visual appeal across these key public spaces.