Integrated sports facility combining research, teaching, sports fields, and indoor courts—achieving high aspirations for sustainability

La Trobe University Sports Park

The La Trobe Sports Park is an integrated regional sporting asset for the community, conceived by La Trobe University to bring national, state, and local sports to Melbourne’s north. This facility would be used for teaching, research, community participation, and elite sport.  

We were engaged to provide integrated engineering services including audiovisual, electrical, fire engineering and protection, hydraulics, mechanical, and sports lighting. The project was delivered across two stages—stage one included a synthetic football field, Australian Football League (AFL) oval, pavilion, change rooms, club rooms, and a 132-seat function room. Stage two included a new research and teaching building, an indoor stadium with six multi-purpose highball courts, commercial tenancy, and a plaza area offering a lookout to the sporting grounds. Notably, in addition to several other environmental features, we included 1,250 rooftop solar panels in the design—enough to power the stadium and contribute renewable energy to the campus.

To accommodate the academic calendar and time constraints, the project commenced with civil work while the building design was completed. However, in the end we were able to meet the client’s expectations and deliver one of Australia’s first 6-Star Green Star Design and As Built rating for a sports building.