Auckland City Rail Link, New Zealand
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Forsyth Barr Stadium is the world’s first permanently covered stadium with a natural turf playing field. It was officially opened in August 2011 in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
With capacity for 20,000 permanent seating and 11,000 temporary seating it is New Zealand’s largest rectangular indoor event venue. It has been heralded with widespread praise for its great atmosphere and versatility, playing host to sporting games, concerts, festivals, races, movies, picnics and much more, including Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Queen, Pink and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
This was a visionary project. As Dunedin has a cold, wet and blustery climate, an all-weather stadium was required. The project team was challenged with designing and delivering a cost-effective, fully fixed roof stadium featuring natural grass.
Throughout the entire planning stages of the stadium, the client and the project team ensured that the turf remained at the forefront of the design in this ‘whole stadium’ solution.
The stadium was built around the turf rather than the other way round. This was a project where the design process was driven by feasibility. From day one it was a rigorous and challenging process with the words “no more time, no more money, find another solution” featuring as a common phrase for the design team.
The key challenge for the design team was growing strong, healthy turf under a fixed roof made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). A team of turf experts, engineers and the stadium architects undertook rigorous studies using a test rig over a two-year period to understand the effects of ETFE on grass growth under contrasting seasonal conditions to ensure the pitch would be of the high standard required for international sporting events.
The test rig was also used to test the light simulation software for useful light passing through the ETFE pillows. Verifying the light transmission in the test rig enabled full scale computer modelling for the actual stadium design to proceed with confidence.
The success of the innovative testing process and use of ETFE, enabling grass growth within a fully enclosed stadium, has set a new benchmark for venues for the feasibility of natural turf under an enclosed structure.
The project has won the following awards:
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