Cox Architecture has won the race to design the new Sydney Football Stadium amid ongoing opposition from some quarters over the plans.
The Sydney-based firm designed the original Sydney Football Stadium – known as the Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons – that was built in 1986.
New South Wales (NSW) government plans will see the existing venue replaced with an innovative stadium featuring a hybrid steel and wood roof.
The facility will cost an estimated A$729m (£392.7m/€449.6m/US$517.5m) and become the first of its type in Australia and only the second such structure in the world.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres cited the “creativity around the roof structure” as one of the key points as to why the Cox design was successful ahead of two other submissions.
“Wrapping the skin of the roof around the back to contain the noise and light spill outside and beyond the stadium was an attractive feature,” head of projects at Infrastructure NSW, David Riches, said.
Riches also praised the idea of landscaping the upper levels so that the venue fits in with surrounding park areas.
He added: “I think Cox Architects has come up with a wonderful design that embraces that parkland setting.”
However, the plans remain surrounded in controversy as opposition to the new stadium remains, with a focus on how the plans were not displayed to the public for the correct amount of time.
The Labor Opposition said plans should have been in public exhibition for 30 days, but it is likely they were only displayed for 28 days.
The Opposition has commissioned legal advice into whether the Department of Planning and Environment purposely ended this period early.
Image: NSW Government
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