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Bringing to life the Home of the Matildas

There are hardly any sports today that are played at a stadium or a dedicated space just for them. Football and multi-sports stadia are some of the largest in the world, not just in relation to capacity; they are also precincts that attract visitors all year round for a host of events and activations – usually the centrepiece of the city or area they’re located in.

However, this project is different. Its focus is on the round-ball game known to the world as football, but to many Australians as soccer. This major new development on a greenfield site has seen the La Trobe University precinct become the centre for Football Victoria and Home of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team.

The brand new La Trobe University Sports Park development is a world-class facility for teaching, research, community participation and elite sport. A dedicated Home of the Matildas training and change facility is a central feature of the development used exclusively by the CommBank Matildas, as well as Australia’s other national teams, including the Young Matildas, Future Matildas, Socceroos and Olyroos.

Home of the Matildas will elevate football training while fostering community and sporting excellence.

Location

Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

Client

Football Victoria

Partners

Populous, Duo Projects, Waypoint, Minicon Constructions

Aurecon's Role

Structural, civil, building services, audiovisual, specialist lighting, ICT, vertical transport, security systems, acoustics engineering and environmentally sustainable design (ESD)

Complete

2023

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The development has become the centre for Football Victoria and Home of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.
The extensive facilities include a gym, pool area, team amenities, tiered grandstand seating and sports presentation facilities for use by the wider football community. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.
A dedicated training and change facility is the central feature of the development, used exclusively by the CommBank Matildas in the lead-up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.
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The development has become the centre for Football Victoria and Home of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.
The development has become the centre for Football Victoria and Home of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.
The development has become the centre for Football Victoria and Home of the Matildas, Australia’s national women’s team. Image courtesy of Mark Avellino Photography.

Aurecon has continued its relationship with Populous Architectural Design having previously worked together on other football/rugby stadia together, such as CommBank Stadium in Sydney, to provide structural, building services, audio visual, vertical transport, security engineering and environmentally sustainable design.

Aurecon provided acoustic and vibration design input for the project to provide the best conditions for training and focus. Particular design challenges involved limiting noise transfer from gym and function spaces to other areas of the facility.

One challenge on the project was minimising the potential for flood surge from the development of a greenfield site into a sports facility.

As the development would be increasing the volume of flow generated by a larger amount of impervious surfaces there was a need for water retention systems and storage, and introducing water sensitive urban design measures to detain water in landscaping to avoid issues for the adjacent Darebin Creek.

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