Hobart’s Macquarie Point stadium has been hitting the news lately as a 265-page report was released – the Macquarie Point Stadium summary report which was submitted to the Tasmanian Planning Commission. The timber roof of the stadium is expected the cost around $160m. Source: Timberbiz
It is likely that this will become the world’s largest timber roofed arena, and it will feature Tasmanian glulam, the report goes into detail on the materials and systems that will feature in its construction. Other Tasmanian timbers are expected to be used widely by lead architects Cox Architecture. German company Schlaich Bergermann Partners were the designers for the translucent roof.
The roof level will accommodate the roof structure and an access gantry for services infrastructure, and it will support field lighting that would otherwise need to be provided with lighting towers.
The roof area of the western section of the Multipurpose Stadium above the function rooms will also include solar photovoltaic panels.
The defining feature is the roof shell which the report states is a feat of engineering, the 190-metre clear-span structure is believed to be the largest fixed roof over a natural grass oval anywhere in the world.
The report states that the project will be an all-weather, roofed, uniquely multipurpose stadium that reflects the character and story of Tasmania with a 23,000 seated capacity and 1,500 structured standing area, offering a boutique and premium fan-experience, with a seating bowl designed to enable people to get close to the field of play, supported by a single continuous concourse that wraps around the stadium.
The expansive shell roof over the field is intended to be a translucent skin that admits light, views and a sense of connection to the city, mountain and waterfront beyond.
The timber in the structure is on the underside, and the volume created underneath will promote an awe-inspiring experience. The streamlined structure allows the maximum internal height above the centre of the pitch and an overall form that reduces in height and scale across all elevations, establishing a height at street interfaces that is comparable to and compatible with the scale of existing buildings.
The development of the roof has undergone an extensive options evaluation process to assess various roof typologies against a range of design criteria. The transparent sections of the roof are comprised of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), which is a high-strength polymer material that has been used on several other roofed stadiums in Munich, Beijing, Dunedin and Las Vegas.
According to the report the proposed Multipurpose Stadium construction works are intended to commence after approvals are received and the contract is awarded, enabling a commencement in late 2025.
However, there’s been controversy over the fact that the stadium’s car park, a three-storey underground area, was not included in $775 million cost estimate and neither was the cost of relocating the heritage-listed Goods Shed nor was the building of an access road at the north part of the site. An amount of $715 million was the initial cost put forward in June this year.
According to the Macquarie Point Development chief executive Anne Beach the car park was not included because it was not specific to the project.
You can download the report here.
