women’s sport is seen as the fastest growth in
opportunity and event creation at stadia and arenas.
This inclusive future is epitomized in refurbishment
and expansion works recently completed at Rod Laver
Arena for the Australian Open. New player and fan
facilities have been designed to equalize experiences,
removing the entrenched gender imbalance so
common at professional stadia and arenas. Australia is
leading in this area, with the redevelopment of the
Sydney Football Stadium and North Queensland
Stadium also recognizing these trends.
These new venues create inclusive experiences,
recognizing the socially aware and tech-savvy
millennial communities. They seek to combine cultural
sensitivity with an understanding of sustainability –
issues at the forefront of importance for the next
generation. They are inclusive, do more with less, and
create a legacy that will last the test of time. Our future
is one where we design venues that are flexible,
sustainable and enhance communities. The inclusive
future looks bright. n
an AFL town. The venue needed to excel both visually
and functionally to complement the city’s existing
sporting infrastructure and reputation. The result was
the highly acclaimed design of AAMI Park.
AAMI Park marked a new breed of stadium, one
that combined the typology’s cultural significance with
the expectations of the digital and experience economy.
The multi-tenanted stadium includes a LED digital
façade that enhances the fan experience and defines the
stadium’s innovative interconnecting shell structural
form. The intense acoustic atmosphere in the seating
bowl is enhanced by the roof ’s form, concentrating the
crowd’s noise onto the field of play.
AAMI Park’s success is also owed to the typological
evolution of column free seating bowls that enhance a
sense of enclosure and allow the building to augment
auditory and visual experiences. The design approach
led to a structure that is lighter and less material
intensive than comparable cantilevered and long span
roofs. The realization that structural form could
enhance the experience of the venue by creating
segmentation and identity led to the exploration of
personalized event experiences for fans and players
through architecture.
Social stadium
Australia’s embrace of sport as culture has led to the
evolution of stadia and arenas beyond the pure
commercialization model dominant in other parts
of the world. These entrenched values formed the
background to develop Optus Stadium in Perth,
the latest major stadia development in Australia.
The overriding objective of the West Australian
Government was to create a ‘fan first’ experience,
available to all sections of the community. Optus
Stadium developed a social contract with its
surrounding communities and First Nations People
of Western Australia and introduced digital to the
stadium experience.
Optus Stadium has set a benchmark for attendance
at women’s professional sporting events. Professional
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(Top left) The redevelopment
of the Adelaide Oval sought
to reconnect communities
and become an emblem of
revitalisation for the city
(Top right) Optus Stadium in
Perth, Western Australia, was
designed as a ‘fan first’ venue
98 www.stadia-magazine.com Showcase 2020
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