‘Sneak peek’ concept images of the proposed multi-purpose stadium at Macquarie Point show just what Tasmania is in for, according to the head of the development.
The ‘uniquely Tasmanian’ design includes seating for 23,000 people, a 1,500-person function space and will become the largest timber-roofed stadium in the world upon completion.
Macquarie Point Development Corporation CEO Anne Beach said the revolutionary roof was thought up by specialist engineers in Germany and could make Tasmania the home of the world’s first covered cricket ground.
“Tasmanian timber is part of what makes Tasmania, Tasmania,” Beach said. “There were around 15 different typologies explored and we came up with this fixed dome structure.”
“We explored steel, we explored all types of things and have come up with a combination of steel and timber. That gives us a sustainable outcome, it gives it a Tasmanian outcome and it helps us give a world first.”
The stadium roof will be 54-metres tall at its highest point.
Cox Architecture’s Alistair Richardson said extensive modelling has been done to ensure minimal shadow impact on the field and surrounding areas.
“The height of the roof actually results in a diffuse shadow, so you don’t actually get hard shadows like you see when the roof is open at Marvel Stadium or the edge of the MCG on those days,” he said.
“So the issue in terms of impact on play is minimised.”
Richardson also confirmed the stadium has been designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for future expansion if needed.
“The solution doesn’t involve knocking any part of the building down in the future,” he said.
“The gap at the moment between the last row of seats and the top of the roof, which is enclosed, allows us to bring another annulus of seating around the back of the upper tier and that’s how we achieve the extra capacity.”
More details of the stadium design will be released later this month before the project is submitted to be assessed under the Project of State Significance process.
“We’re confident these concept designs show what we’re going to deliver for Tasmania,” Beach said.
“We think we’ve got a fantastic product offer here that will be available to work through that with everyone.”
The state government remains confident the project can be delivered on budget for a total of $715 million, with $375 million coming from them, $240 million from the federal government, $15 million from the AFL and $85 million from private sources.
“We’ve been very clear that we think that we can walk and chew gum at the same time and good governments do that,” Sport Minister Nic Street said.
“I believe that it’s going to be a stadium that Tasmanians can not only be proud of, but will be uniquely Tasmanian.”
Greens MP Vica Bayley said “no-one genuinely expects” the budget to be kept to, while Cassy O’Connor said a stadium was “still the wrong project for this site”.
“There’s an old saying that you can’t put a shine on a cowpat. These design images are an attempt to do just that but a stadium on Macquarie Point is still a cowpat,” O’Connor said.
An optimistic Labor party, who earlier this year changed their tune in support of the stadium for the sake of jobs, welcomed the designs.
“While it remains to be seen if Jeremy Rockliff can deliver this on time and on budget, if he does it will be good news for Tasmania’s economy and local jobs,” Shadow Sport Minister Luke Edmunds said.
