On Friday 7 May 2010 spectators will stream into Melbourne’s AAMI Park (formerly Melbourne Rectangular Stadium) to watch Australia and New Zealand go head to head in the annual rugby league ANZAC Test – the stadium’s first competitive sporting event.
The eye-catching stadium, which features a unique bio-frame roof, was commercially named following a lucrative eight-year sponsorship deal signed by the Australian insurance company.
Sited within Melbourne’s Sports and Entertainment Precinct, AAMI Park fills a vital gap in the city’s sporting infrastructure, offering a venue suitable for soccer, rugby league and rugby union. The new 31,000 seat stadium will become home ground to the Melbourne Storm (NRL), Melbourne Rebels (Super 15) and two A-League soccer teams, Melbourne Victory and (from 2011) Melbourne Heart.
Arup worked closely with Cox Architects and Grocon on the stadium design providing structural and civil engineering, turf and pitch consultancy, façade and pedestrian modelling.
"AAMI Park's innovative bio-frame roof provides a highly efficient structure that is both functional and visually exciting", explains Arup Project Director, Peter Bowtell. The stadium roof is a three dimensional structure with 20 interdependent shells with a single layer of structure, sharing the load through a combination of arching, cantilever and shell action. The resulting structure is considerably lighter and uses less steel than similar sized stadium roofs using traditional construction methods.
Another consideration in the design of AAMI Park's roof was the need to maximise the natural light and ventilation, for both spectator comfort and the health of the playing surface. The bio-frame roof provides 80% coverage for spectators against rain, insulation to ensure patron comfort, and integration with a drainage system designed to collect rainwater.
Advanced pedestrian modelling enabled the Arup design team to focus on achieving the optimal circulation for patrons, avoiding bottlenecks around the concourse and concessions. With safety as one of the primary concerns the stadium stairs and plazas are designed to allow enough space for spectators waiting to cross Swan Street towards transport and parking facilities.
"Our focus was on achieving new benchmarks in efficiency and sustainability and integrating these with each element of the overall stadium design" says Peter. The ingenuity of AAMI Park's design has seen the stadium likened to other internationally acclaimed sporting venues such as Allianz Arena in Munich and the Chinese National Stadium and GreenPix Media Wall in Beijing.
The state government funded stadium houses public bars and cafes, corporate boxes, dining facilities catering for up to 1000 people, a gym and lap pool. Just a stone’s throw from other prestigious sporting venues like Rod Laver Arena and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), AAMI Park further enhances Melbourne’s ranking as the world’s best sporting city.