It was designed by Terry Stringer and depicts a bronze Cubist volcano thrusting up from a concrete base, with streams of water falling from three of the sculpture's four faces.

In December 1979, a panel consisting of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, Dame Catherine Tizard, Colin Brenton-Rule, Peter Bartlett and Greer Twiss selected Terry Stringer's design as the winner from 42 entries and a shortlist of six finalists.

[2] Two other finalists were subsequently made into public sculptures, Tanya Ashken's Albatross (1986) in Whairepo Lagoon, Wellington, and Chris Booth's Te Whiringa o Manoko (1978–2009) in Kerikeri.

[4][5] Mountain Fountain took a year to build[6] and was unveiled by Mayor Colin Kay in April 1981[7] with the title The Aotea Square Water Feature.

[10] Stringer wanted the sculpture to suggest "another of Auckland's volcanoes pushing up through Aotea Square" to offer "all the delights of hills and mountains" including "waterfalls, pools and streams and the pleasant sound of falling water".

[9] In 2005, the Auckland City Council planned to tear down the Mountain Fountain sculpture as part of a redesign of Aotea Square, but backed down after outcry from the public[7] and members of New Zealand's arts community.

[7] The Auckland City Council removed the sculpture and placed it in storage in 2008 after assessing structural issues and public space considerations as part of an $80 million restoration project to Aotea Square[22] and the underground car park.

[6] In June 2009, an Auckland City Council advisory panel for public art voted unanimously to move Mountain Fountain to a new location, citing "the impact of the structure on the event space" and the need to ensure the car park roof's waterproofing.

From an art perspective, the panel felt Mountain Fountain was out of scale and dwarfed by the large, open square, and "would do more work in a smaller site.

[22] The New Zealand Herald arts writer Janet McAllister thought the sculpture looked good at its new site, but had misgivings that some non-Christian ratepayers might "feel uncomfortable visiting it on diocese land.