2024 LSAA Design Awards Entry Sydney Football Stadium Roof

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The Sydney Football Stadium Roof, completed in 2022, has joined the growing list of major international iconic stadiums featuring lightweight tensile membrane roofing. Right from the start of the design phase, the project brief emphasised the integration of key stadium elements – the Stadium Domain, Seating Bowl, Façade, and Roof – into a cohesive architectural language.

The highly visible 26,000 square metre tensile membrane roof uses Chukoh Skytop FGT800 PTFE as the primary cladding element. The lightweight PTFE membrane provides exceptional durability and strength, ensuring a 50+ year lifespan with minimal maintenance.

APPLICATION OF PROJECT:       Stadium Roofing Canopy

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Yarrow Stadium in Taranaki was scheduled for a major redevelopment to comply with modern earthquake regulations and ensure the venue remained fit for purpose, aligning with the grow city’s cultural and sporting needs. Following the declaration of the west stand as earthquake-prone in 2018, we were commissioned to design, engineer, and provide a lightweight fabric roof solution that would integrate with the existing structural steel of the west grandstand, also known as the Noel & Melva Yarrow Stand. 

After a slow start in the series where Australia lost its first two matches our team started to get its act together.

There were some incredible individual performances such as the batting innings by by Glenn Maxwell that inspired the team to believe they could win from any dire position.

Well done team and to Travis Head for a superb knock in the final following brilliant display of fielding - including Head's remarkable outfield catch.

A collection of excellent pictures of the final match played on November 19 2023 is assembled by The Guardian - See HERE

The final was played in the recently completed Narendra Modi Stadium - the largest cricket stadium in the world.

A good account of the history of the stadium can be found on Wikipedia HERE

The stadium belongs to the Gujarat Cricket Association and the two pictures in this article are credit to a gallery on their site HERE

The roof of the stadium is a true Lightweight Structure and is based on a complete horizontal "bicycle wheel" concept with an outer planar compression ring (or rim of a wheel) and an inner tension open ring or hub. The redeveloped stadium was designed by the architectural firm Populus. The LSAA has been fortunate to have Populus deliver some keynote addresses at some of our conferences.

Between the two are radial cables of alternating shapes. Every other radial cable has a peak formed by a pickup cable running out to the higher outer compression ring. We might call this a "ridge cable". The radial cables between these ridge cables are "valley cables". Between the radial cables is tensioned fabric panels giving a very clean underside to the roof.

The new 42,500 seat Allianz Stadium in Sydney was officially opened on August 28 2022.

Cox Architects were the Architects on this and the original stadium. John Holland were the builders.

The Media release can be viewed at https://www.allianzstadium.com.au/articles/allianz_stadium_official_open

Some other links are:

Wikipedia Article which describes the contractual story in some detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Football_Stadium_%282022%29

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YphXYWufXuM

Channel 7 News Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJoX0u5uQ3M

 Article in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/aug/30/after-all-the-grandstanding-a-sparkling-new-stadium-leaves-sydneys-same-problems-unresolved

More details later. (Aug 30 2022)

CommBank Stadium Description

CommBank Stadium (formerly Bankwest Stadium) is a 30,000-seat stadium in Parramatta, NSW Australia. The large 28,500m² regional stadium is an initiative backed by the NSW Government to create an entertainment venue that was “made for the fans”.

Fabritecture’s scope was the design & construction of the impressive lightweight fabric structure roof utilizing a combination of Chukoh FGT-800 PTFE to provide shade to patrons and 300µm clear ETFE film eyelid roof to support pitch growth by allowing UV and natural light to pass through the membrane.

A large focus of the grandstand design was to bring patrons as close as possible to the field, creating a truly spectacular experience for all sports fans.

Several recent stadia roofs have employed the structural concept broadly described as a bicycle wheel.

In this concept there is the outer rim, or compression ring supported at regular intervals around the circular or near circular grandstand.

Radial elements span into a central hub - like the spokes of a wheel joining onto the axle hub. Schlaich Bergermann Partner are considered pioneers in using this concept - such as for the stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Entrant:  Tensys Engineers Pty Ltd

• Location:  Doha, Qatar
• Client:  Lakhwiya Sports Club
• Completion Date:  February 2013

This project was entered in the 2013 LSAA Design Awards (Cat 4, #6515)

The development is to create a new stadium for the local Qatar League team ‘Lakhwiya’. The works involve creating a 15,000 seat stadium with 4 grand stand sun shading roofs.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Lakhwiya Football Club is local league champions in 2012 and 2013. The development is to create a new home stadium for this team. Al Khayyat Development were provided with the brief to carry out a design and build facilities for (not only) the stadium but associated facilities of car parking, gymnasium and ancillary buildings

Congratulations to India for winning the first test of the 2018 summer season. Next is to start later this week in the brand new 60,000 seat Optus Stadium in Perth. Best wishes to both teams. The Optus stadium roof structure had considerable input from two of our LSAA Members - Arups and MakMax.

More details of this project can be found HERE

The Adelaide Oval is a world class cricket facility that was the focus of a $535 million redevelopment completed in 2014.

The first Test of the 2018-19 season between India and Australia was played at the Adelaide Oval. Congratulations to India for the win but it does seem as though the Aussies have a bit of fight in them. Onto the new stadium in Perth!

Various LSAA Members have been involved in the new roof structures at Adelaide. See this article for example.

Photo Credits: Peter Kneen

Project entered in the LSAA 2018 Design Awards (Cat 5, 5085)

APPLICATION OF PROJECT:

Façade Structure

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

To create a lightweight façade structure for Jakarta Velodrome – extending the designs and concept developed with Cox Architecture for the Queensland State Velodrome for Indonesia.

A video of the completed project may be seen at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUPJvJ4xCtA

LSAA 2018 Design Awards HIGH COMMENDATION - Category 6 Collaboration (6431)

Application: Mixed fabric PTFE and EPTFE Tensile Membrane Roof over the 60,000 seat Perth Optus Stadium.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The crowning cap of the New Perth Stadium is the “halo” roof that appears to float above the main seating bowl and façade. The use of architectural membrane materials created an ultra lightweight roof, enabling a lightweight steel frame to be constructed that compliments the minimal form of the roof.

The roof structure is a continuous fabric roof free from movement joints and integrated with lighting, PA and other systems. The translucent roof was enhanced by the use of 2 fabrics – a PTFE and an EPTFE fabric – with contrasting light transmissions creating a visually exciting texture to the Halo internally.

The Optus Stadium is the brand new 60,000 seat sports stadium in Perth.

Two of the LSAA member companies - Arup and MakMax - have been involved in the design and construction of the roof structure.

The Arup design team attended the cracking one day cricket game between Australia and England for the first major event at Optus Stadium. The feature of the stadium is the lightweight cantilevering roof that has a clean fabric membrane soffit and those huge speakers pack a punch. Unfortunately we lost the day only by a few runs but the atmosphere was great.

First Day-Night Cricket Test at the Rennovated Adelaide Oval

The first day-night cricket test was held at the recently renovated Adelaide Oval. 

A swinging pink ball was a factor in the very close and low scoring game which Australia managed to win.

Another factor in the success of the inaugral day-night test was the Adelaide Oval with its recently completed new stadiums. 

This type of stadia are the kinds of iconic structures that our members are passionate about.

Here are some images that I took in July 2015 - unfortunately not during the test.

See also

The Adelaide Oval is a world class cricket facility that has been the focus of a $535 million redevelopment which was completed in 2014.

The slider shows some images from a visit in July 2015.

Photo Credits: Peter Kneen

A link to view details (non-engineering) of the stadiums for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa:

http://www.smh.com.au/world-cup-2010/stadiums

Stadium profiles

Credits: The following article is adapted from
http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=
93:World+Cup+stadiums&catid=39:2010_bg&Itemid=59 

The 2010 Fifa World Cup will be played out in 10 newly built or upgraded stadiums, in nine South African cities.

Five are existing stadiums, all of which have been upgraded, with the showpiece Soccer City in Johannesburg having undergone a major upgrade. The remaining five have been built from scratch - and completed on schedule.

The stadiums are:

Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg
Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Durban Stadium, Durban
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

Demolition and groundwork began in 2006, with construction of all the major facilities starting in February 2007. South Africa’s construction industry, which has substantial experience in large-scale infrastructure development, was consulted about the stadium timelines - and it was agreed that the dates were realistic.

Structural Design of the Arch and Roof of Wembley Stadium

Kourosh Kayvani, PhD, FIEAust, CPEng 
Aurecon, Sydney, Australia

ROOF DESCRIPTION

The aim of the new Wembley Stadium was to design and build a state-of-the-art national stadium, unlike any other in the world. The new stadium, with its elegant exposed steel structure arch, is an international icon as was the old stadium with its twin towers which was built in 1923.

The design brief required the roof not to cover the playing field which lead to one unique aspect of the roof in that it partially retracts over the seats to allow the daylight to reach all points of the pitch and thus a shadow-free playing field.

The retractable roof is formed by seven separate independently driven roof panels totalling 15,000 sqm that move in a parallel motion to the south as they "open" and stack on the top of one another when in a fully "open" position.

With the retracting roof panels all moving to the south, the roof design exploits the opportunity to have a tall, structurally efficient structure on the north side to support the north and south roofs. The solution was to have an elegant and structurally efficient arch which spans the entire width of the stadium's seating bowl (Figure 1).

Email for complete paper.

Entrant: Tensys Engineering Pty Ltd
Location: Robina, Qld.  Client: The State of Qld. Major Sport Facilities Authority
Architect: Populous (formerly HOK SVE)  Struct. Eng.: SKM  Specialist: Tensys Engineering Pty Ltd
Others: Beenleigh Steel Fabrications Pty Ltd  Builder: Watpac Limited  Fabricator: Hightex GmBh

This project was entered in the LSAA 2009 Design Awards, Category 3 #3066

Skilled Park, located in the suburb of Robina on the Gold Coast, was officially opened in March 2008 and is the home ground of NRL club Jetstar Gold Coast Titans and new football club Gold Coast United Football Club who joined the A-League in 2009.

The multi-purpose sporting and entertainment stadium was constructed over a two-year period and includes seating for 27,400 spectators.

Designed to be suitable for all rectangular field sports including Rugby League, Rugby Union and Football, the stadium includes 100 open corporate boxes

The LSAA 2007 Conference held at the Gold Coast included a site visit to the nearby Robina Stadium which was under construction. The stage of construction was the installation of the tensioned fabric roof panels.

The following are some images taken during that visit.

Entrant: Structurflex Ltd - Engineering Fabrication Installation
Location: Sandy - Salt Lake City Utah USA
Client: Salt Lake County - Utah & Real Salt Lake
Architect: Rossetti Architects
Struct. Eng.: Wade Design Engineers & Wayne Rendely PE
Builder: Turner Construction
Fabricator: Structurflex

This project was entered in the LSAA 2009 Design Awards, Category 3 #3002

No further details have been entered to date.

Entrant: MakMax Australia - Designer
Location: Prince Alfred Park - North End Lake - Port Elizabeth South Africa
Client: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality
Architect: GMP Architects
Struct. Eng.: Schlaich Bergermann & Partners

Others: MakMax (Installation)
Builder: Grinaker / Interbeton JV
Fabricator: MakMax Australia

This project was entered in the LSAA 2009 Design Awards, Category 3 (Large Structures, #3001)

This project was entered in the LSAA 2011 Design Awards (Cat 4, 4002)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Carrara Stadium was originally built in the late 1980’s and played host to a number of events however the venue has traditionally been a football ground. The decision to redevelop the site came as a welcome change to many sporting fans. The redevelopment is also in line with the Queensland government’s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The newly named and revamped Metricon Stadium is built to accommodate a Australian Rules football oval, world standard cricket oval, provision to allow future installation of an athletics field and international standard soccer field including all the associated corporate, media and player facilities. The Queensland Government funded project secures a future for sport of all kinds in the region, opens the possibility to world class soccer coming to the region as well as other major national and international sporting events.

Chepauk Stadium, Stage One - Entered in the LSAA 2011 Design Awards (Cat 4)

This project was ambitious from the beginning; a large scale elevated cover over three grandstand seating structures presented a few structural challenges.

The purpose as with many tensile membrane projects was a combination of shade and weather cover. Each seating section required these basic needs met while maintaining a uniform style and aesthetic appeal through out. Our client, The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, requested minimal connections to the supporting grandstand structure, leaving more space beneath for spectator seating.

The project was designed to create a unique feature to the venue. Often large scale tension membrane roofing contribute a large amount to the look and feel of a venue, it’s a prominent feature and one that needs to be eye-catching and unique.

LSAA 2011 Design Awards Entry (Cat 4, Adelaide Oval Western Grandstand Redevelopment 

APPLICATION OF PROJECT: Structural design of lightweight diagrid grandstand roof

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Adelaide Oval Western Grandstand Redevelopment comprises the partial demolition and reconstruction of the existing heritage listed western members grandstand into a new A$116m 14,000 seat grandstand. The iconic grandstand was opened for the 2010 Ashes Second Test Match to rave reviews.  The diagrid roof forms the centrepiece of the new grandstand achieving structural spans up to 55m with arched 219CHS sections leading to an elegant and exceptionally light (55kg/m2) roof solution to provide the required cover to the grandstand patrons with unobstructed views and designed to withstand 180kph design wind speeds.

Project Entry in LSAA 2011 Design Awards (Cat 6, 6983)

APPLICATION OF PROJECT

AAMI Park is Melbourne’s first purpose built venue for football (soccer), rugby league and rugby union. The 30,000-plus seat stadium offers a world class arena and playing surface for all three codes with an unparalleled spectator experience in terms of sightlines, atmosphere and amenity

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

AAMI Park, with its iconic bio-frame roof, fills a gap in Melbourne’s renowned suite of sporting facilities and increases the city’s ability to attract national and international events.

Home to the Victory, Hearts, Storm, Rebels and Melbourne Football Club teams, the stadium also features a sports medicine centre, elite training facility and administration complex, making it a true sports campus for Melbourne.