La Trobe University, Sports Park
Bundoora, Australia
In Collaboration with Warren and Mahoney
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6 High Ball Indoor Courts (2 Show Courts with 2,500 Spectator Seats), Fitness Space, Sports Medicine Clinic, Research Labs, Concession, Artificial Turf Pitches, Artificial Turf Lawn Hockey Fields, Rugby Field, Baseball Field
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Structural / Civil: ARUP
Landscape: Tract Consulting -
2021 Designers Institute of New Zealand: Best Design Award (Public & Institutional Spaces)
2021 Australia Sustainable Building Award: Education & Research
2021 Athletic Business: Facilities of Merit Design Award
2021 INDE. Award: The Learning Space
Generating more energy on site than it uses, thus making it Net-Positive, the La Trobe University Sports Park and Stadium is the nation’s first athletics-focused building to be awarded the highest, ‘6-Star’ rating by the Green Building Council of Australia. Occupying a 60-hectare site on the Melbourne campus, the Sports Park integrates 12 outdoor multi-use pitches with a 112,000 sf (10,405 m2) highly cost-effective building. It has a simple prefabricated gable-roof, massing that optimizes passive ventilation (including in the courts), abundant daylighting, efficient service systems and rainwater reuse, and extensive rooftop photovoltaics.
The complex’s wide-ranging programming mix is also the first of its type in Australia. The facility houses programs, partnerships, research, and course development, enabling La Trobe to be the country’s leading institution for teaching and research related to sport. It combines these academic purposes with high-performance sport, student, and community use — opening up possibilities for inspiration and interaction.
The project is the first major piece of La Trobe’s bold ‘University City of the Future’ plan. The Net-Positive building is able to provide surplus renewable energy to the rest of the campus.
The striking west façade shades the interior, provides event space, and is a transparent beacon welcoming community and campus members and encouraging participation.
The rational parti places a two-level circulation and teaching bar alongside the sports halls. Transparency between programs and shared social spaces create clear wayfinding, while also concentrating the activities, energy, talents, and experiences of the facility’s diverse users into one vibrant indoor-outdoor hub.
