The La Trobe University Sports Stadium is an Australian-first. Generating more energy on site than it uses, making it net positive, it is the first sports building in Australia to be awarded the highest rating for both the design and build, by the Green Building Council of Australia. More than just an academic centre, the Sports Park is a community destination that is active day and night, weekdays and weekends.

The key concept of the design is the concentration of maximum activity into a single centre of gravity to naturally draw a broad range of participants. At the heart of the project is the transparent teaching ‘bar’ that lies between the indoor and outdoor playing areas, opening out both sides and creating a learning zone that links codes and functions.

State-of-the-art sports science technology, including advanced physiology and biomechanics labs, are integrated seamlessly into the design, with adjacent outdoor football fields flowing right into the building. By making elite sport visible and accessible, and encouraging recreational participation, the central hub encourages the natural cross-pollination that brings about discovery and inspiration.

The stadium is designed with a vast high-spec photovoltaic array on the roof that amounts to over 519kW and generates around 724,000 kWh per year. This is more than enough to meet the stadium’s electrical demand and so surplus renewable energy is fed back into the rest of the campus.

The Sports Park a lively central hub, drawing together people from all tiers of the sporting world – from elite athletes to social players – and encouraging participation at all levels.

Furniture: Mark Perry, Steelcase, Schiavello. Lighting: Advanced Lighting Technologies, Cree. Finishes: Viridian, DTAC, Remax Doors, Reflex Technology, Interface, Cedar Sales, Knauf, James Hardie, Askin, Forbo, Spectrum (Mondo), Gerflor, Ceramic Solutions (Agrob Buchtal), Dulux, Ampelite, Safetyline Jalousie, Sayfa. Fittings & Fixtures: Harvey Norman Commercial, Hafele, Interloc, Blue Vane Scoreboards, Enware, Kyissa, RBA, Ringmaster.

Photography: Derek Swalwell