COX Architecture principal director Alastair Richardson joined Brent after concept designs were released for Macquarie Point Stadium.
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SEN Tassie
COX Architecture principal director Alastair Richardson (08/07/24)
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They are certainly photorealism, which is great. And so what you're seeing is what you're going to get. How big a job has it been for you the last couple of months since you announced as the architect for this? You must have been putting in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to this project. Oh, it has and the team has as well. Both of our engineers, Acom and Schlegbergman, who are the engineers behind the roof. It's been a fantastic effort. We've had a strong team down in Tasmania working visily. They have done at Macquarie Point over 20 people. So it's been intense, but really, really good. And we're really excited by the project that's sort of evolved and how the designs evolve. It's been a site that's been so controversial for so many years. And what do we do with it, et cetera? How much pressure do you feel to get this right? Incredibly, amount of pressure, you know, it's such a fantastic site and it has such an opportunity to be transformational for Hobart. We think it's almost as transformational for Adelaide as the Adelaide overall, in fact, was certain it will be. So that notion of how to energise a CBD, how to really create a vibrant place seven days a week, you know, the stadium is all going to help that. And that's certainly a key of what we've been trying to look at when looking at the design of the stadium and how it interacts with Macquarie Point. We haven't really spoken about that side of it, I guess, the site and making it user-friendly seven days a week. What plans are in place outside of sport, I guess, and around the precinct? The Master Plan has identified a series of development opportunities, which as the Minister said yesterday, have been discussed with other parties. That's all a part of the Master Plan work we're doing. We've also done things like relocate to the good shed, such that the good shed can actually become an extension both of the stadium, but then equally used on non-event days for smaller events, gatherings, markets, those sorts of components. We've designed the stadium to be flexible, so it can actually have exhibitions and conferences within it as well as music events. And we've designed it to allow for bars and restaurants to be developed, essentially with a street frontage underneath the stadium and on both sides of the street and also around the east. So there's lots of opportunity to really engage with the precinct and really create a destination, which has been one of the things we've been really passionate to do. It's almost like an expansion really of Salamanca Cove and another great tourist destination, which is also a destination for Hawaiians and of course people from the border to Tasmania regions. Some people might look at these beautiful renders and be sceptical of how it won't go over budget. I watched you yesterday and you had a bit of a grin on your face when budgets are mentioned. Is that because you're so confident that it won't go over budget? Yeah, we've done an enormous amount of work to date on it. So right from the outset, the government was very, very clear on what the objectives of the budget were and what we had to achieve. Obviously the key thing there was making sure that it was roofed because it's the point of complete uniqueness for the venue. So we were very, very much on the front foot working closely with the cost planners right from the beginning. So yes, we're very confident. With the breakdown of the stadium, what does the roof cost on its own? Is it quite cheap when it comes to roof stadiums, I suppose, the way you designed it? It's incredibly efficient. Early on the stadium debate, there was lots of talk about a retractable roof. But the work that we've been involved with the last 20 years clearly shows that retractable roofs are significantly more expensive. And the technology is now done such that we can actually create a cupboard stadium and grow the grass underneath to suitable standards, which is why we put the proposition on the table, which has been endorsed both by the government but also for the design team as well. So the roof represents probably about a quarter of the construction budget. And so that's a very, very efficient roof in terms of what we've managed to achieve. It's pretty special when you look at it. And it's probably going to be the talk of the sporting world when people do see it and it's built. I love how you said it's self-cleaning, et cetera. A lot of people said to me what about birds though and their droppings potentially on there. Do they self-clean off as well, Alissa? They do. I mean, the way to look at this is, you know, your nonstick trying pan. It's pretty much like that. The material does not allow things to bind to it. So yes, when we get the seagulls doing their proverbial on it, then next time it rains, it will wash itself off. Yeah, and as I mentioned to you, yes, there are a lot of people talking about the temperature inside as well under a roof like that, I suppose. But are you confident the way you've set it up and designed it, that there won't be an issue in winter or summer? Absolutely not. You know, the evidence that we've got from Dunedin, the foresight bar stadium is actually, it's a very positive element. It allows the grass to grow longer. It creates an environment inside that actually allows fans to be outdoors more and under shelter more. It's a great place in winter to sit because it's warm, which is fantastic. And in summer, the roof is vented to make sure that on those hot days and how far that any heat is actually vented out of the stadium as well. So it's been fully considered a lot of what's called computer fluid dynamics and modeling being done to actually assess what the temperatures are like and how the temperatures work within it. But we're very confident it'll be a fantastic cupboard outdoor environment that fans will absolutely revelate and enjoy. How do you appease the people that have some issues with the stadium, the RSL being one and the Cenotaph, of course, which has been a hot topic? Are you certain it won't impede on the Cenotaph and do you think you'll get the RSL on side eventually? Oh, look, we fully respect the views of the RSL and its concerns, and we've tried to deliver a design response that has an evenable impact on the Cenotaph and will also respect it. We think it's actually an awesome, fantastic opportunity to observe the memory of people who have served and how the stadium could potentially be used even on an exact day. So we're very acutely aware of the sensitivities, we're very acutely aware that, you know, some people will never agree with the stadium when we understand that. But we've been commissioned to do the best job we possibly can by the government to deliver an outcome. And the design has tried to respond to those issues as best it can give them, you know, that is a 23,000 seat stadium, keeping the edge low, doing the dome roof, making the roof as transparent as possible, creating active edges, being respectful of the good shed. All these things have been done to really try and make sure that it addresses the value concerns being put forward, but still delivering on the outcomes for which the government has moved forward with. What about transport? That's another interesting one. Obviously 2.0, we're spruking a car park as part of their design. Mac 1 doesn't have a car park, but that means you're encouraging people to get on public transport instead. There's a very much an integrated transport solution that has been developed and will continue to be developed. It does include elements of bus service. So there's an event bus depot or station basically on the north side of the stadium, which is designed to ferry people out towards remote car parkings as well as bus routes. But then we're also making use of the CBD, the fact is we're only half a kilometre walk away from a vast amount of car parking within the CBD, and typically event days in terms of gains don't necessarily clash with the activity of the CBD. That notion of drawing people into the CBD and then coming apart of the scene, no restaurants, bars has been one of the great successes of stadiums like Adelaide, where there's hardly any car parking associated with the stadium. Really the car parking is only for corporate guests and operational parking. So we've adopted a similar strategy here and again confidence that within the overall CBD area, the ability to cater for people want to drive in the ability to cater for public transport has all been built into the scheme. We spoke about the shadows to that the roof might create yesterday you said it shouldn't be an issue. I noticed on some of the renders is a few shadows, but that's not going to be an issue moving forward with that beautiful roof that there is. No, we don't believe so and again we're using presidents here as an example. So, you know, back in 2007, it was said that rugby tests could never be played under an ETFE roof because of similar concerns. Well, it is played and it's not been a concern at all to the broadcasters or to the play. So we're confident that actually those things will be done we've learned a lot since the foresight bar stadium in Dunedin. We've got a thinner roof structure and more efficient roof structure we've got new developments in the material that is given this transparency TFE that allows the diffuse the light around the structural chambers and the height of it allows further diffusion of the light with no major trust is interfering. So we're very confident that it'll actually be a great playing environment. We are doing dynamic modeling sort of augmented reality at the moment, which will be showing sharing with the sports. But again, they are very confident as well that this will create a really truly unique environment and something that they're very happy about. Mr Richardson from Cox architecture is my very special guest on the devil's advocate today talking all things Macquarie Point Stadium. What about the lighting inside? I had a bit of a gig when I look at some of the social media comments. Alister and people saying I'm only going to play day games. There's no light towers, but just like up the stadium in Perth, the lights are on the inside of the venue aren't they and work really well. They are, and it's really interesting the lighting engineers and the broadcast is really excited because one of the common problems of the same light model is the glare issue because the lights are quite low. Because of the dome we can actually bring the lights up the surface of the dome. So the lighting qualities for night games is probably going to be amongst the best in the country and with no light towers creating that terrible light pollution for residents that you know sometimes causes also concerns. So we think the lighting solution is truly unique and giving fantastic opportunities, which is again certain the feedback that we've had from the sport lighting engineers and the teams. Where did the lights leave Red Bull cricket? Do they need to be on during the day, the lights, or is there going to be enough light coming from outside, if you like, into the stadium? So that's one of the issues that we're working through with TAS cricket at the moment. The idea is that the sufficient natural light for the Red Bull game to be done through there. But TAS cricket will have to go through its own testing regime. It is notorious essentially that the umpires make the final decision, but we're confident that we'll be working through the ICC on these issues to show how it can involve. Whether it's a slight adjustment, it becomes a pink ball test, rather than a Red Bull test, time will tell, but we're looking forward to working with cricket on exactly those issues. But are the lights on even during a footy game? Does it need that little extra boost typically on any given day? It's more than likely they will be. They don't need to be because obviously the difference between the sun and whatever you can do from sports lights is never quite the same, but it will certainly help. And to reduce some of the cross shadowing caused by the roof members. But again, it will actually quite possibly not require them at all, but that'll be an operations decision at the end of the day. We also spoke about expansion yesterday, and we had Ann Beech on SCN Tassie breakfast this morning. She said it could go up to 30,000 if required down the track. Is that an easy thing to do? It will be difficult. Just run us through the expansion side of things if needed. Yeah, so we've designed the ball to actually have currently cutouts, which will be infilled later so that we don't have to extend the perimeter of the building or take the roof off. We've also designed the gap between the underside of the roof and the seating ball from day one to have expansion within it. We have a six, seven rows of seats. So, Ann is quite right. We've been built as a part of the brief, the ability to expand to roughly 30,000 as a part of the core objectives, the stadium bearing the mind up. Of course, that we also have a budget to design to. What about the roof? I'm sort of jumping around a little over the place here because things bob into my mind. Sorry for jumping around a little bit, but the height of the roof was sort of designed for cricket in a way to get to make sure when a ball is hit, it doesn't hit the roof like we have seen at Marvel Stadium. So, just run us through that and how it works on the sides and then the apex in the middle, I suppose. Yeah, it's been a fascinating journey actually we've actually found some university research on the trajectory of cricket balls and we've also been using for kind of technology that the TV company used to track where a six goes, for example. And we've plotted that actually into inside the stadium to actually make sure and understand what the roof options are. We did lift the roof up, both from an efficiency point of view because the greater the amplitude of the dome, the more efficient it is that all the smaller members. And the cheaper it is, but the extra height actually turned cricket from being rather wary when we were talking about it being roughly the same size as Marvel to be the strong supporter because they certainly realized with 50 meters that they were clear of any risk of someone hitting, you know, the roof. If someone did do a mess ball and there'll be a heck of a hit you probably would deserve to be out. I like that, I like that. Just with the roof structure as well with the timber that will be used a lot of people wondering how that works and how well at last I suppose is it something that needs to be replaced just talk to us about that as well. So, well, I've seen some of those comments going around and some of the concerns of course timber in the right environment when kept dry is incredibly resilient, you know, there's timber buildings that are hundreds and hundreds of years old in Europe. And equally through Australia, you know, glue lamb and timber has been used for over 100 years in terms of it so because the timber is indoor and not exposed to the weather. And it absolutely will land. We are looking at the timber being blue lamb elements because they're 10 meters 20 meters long so they're pretty big. But we're looking at how Tasmanian timbers can be the source to do it now the normal element of blue lamb beans is certainly. And we're actually working currently with the source to investigate different nuclear species particularly we forested regions so not native forestry to create these blue lamb beans. And we'll continue on that research but the aim is that we will be using Tazee timber and source on Tazee built and then in Tazee as well. You see it as a real plus value of the timber industry that's so important to Tasmanian. A couple more before I let you go the ground itself I know a lot of testing's been done over there we saw the digger there yesterday and a lot of landfill already been dug up but you're confident you're absolutely confident there's no issue in building a stadium on Macquarie Point which is what some of the rumors have been over the journey as well. Oh absolutely not we've got so much geotechnical information done on the site already we know exactly what the ground conditions are. We've met point of remediated the site from obviously it's old industrial past already that's what the paths of dirt that you see so it's been a very thorough process and we're absolutely confident that the playing surface will be fantastic. We're certainly looking at the playing service being certainly equal to the MCG if not better. And last one we're to now for you obviously there's still some further renders that will be released and then the project of state significance begins how much work is to do from here. Well we're still sprinting work to do we as you quite mentioned rightly mentioned the project or significance planning process starts at the end of this month as the minister indicated. We then have 12 months of the planning process to go through. But during that time because you know to make sure that documents are ready for tender will be carrying on working and to make sure that hopefully with the outcome of the planning process we're ready to carry on get construction under way and get the stadium up for the first game, which is meant to be round one twenty twenty nine it'll be done by then Alistair no issues. No everything indicates that it's all OK at the moment all of our project managers who've been looking at the program and are input into the program have all been getting towards that date. Well done on a great job so far the renders look amazing I think everyone's was excited to see them yesterday and you've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it so well done to you and thanks so much for joining us here on the devil's advocate today to explain to our listeners exactly what's going on. Thanks very much and look forward to the continued journey with your listeners as well as they see all these things coming to fruition. Alison Richardson joining me on the devil's advocate he of course is the principal director of Cox architecture the team behind the design of Macquarie Point Stadium. The Macquarie Point Stadium chat will continue next when sports and events minister Nick Street joins me here on the show.