Location :

Gold Coast, QLD

Client :

Gold Coast Suns Football Club

Year :

2016-2017

Sector :

Natural | AFL

The Gold Coast Suns Football Club (GCSFC) were the 17th founded team in the Australian Rules Football League and were established to play from the Carrara Stadium. The stadium was rebuilt and was delivered during the 2011 season. As part of this re-build a high-quality natural turf oval was established adjacent to the stadium as the clubs' training oval.

However, the natural turf training oval had limitations due to poor drainage and site constraints impacted the oval dimensions.

In planning for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the Queensland Government announced the development of the Carrara Sports & Leisure Centre which, after completion of the Games, would become a community facility as well as the training and administration center for the GCSFC.

THE CHALLENGE

The project's geotechnical report indicated that the site consisted of unfavourable ground conditions.

THE SOLUTION

Subsequently, the SPORTENG design aimed to minimise the disturbance of the subgrade and included the use of trenchless subsoil drainage and irrigation located within the drainage gravel layer of the perched water table profile.

THE RESULTS

The overall footprint of the field was designed to incorporate two FIFA sized soccer pitches, and an AFL oval that can be overlaid over both pitches. The Gold Coast Suns Football Club would use the field as their training oval, while Gold Coast City Council would utilise the two soccer pitches for use by local soccer teams.

The design of the elite training field accommodated the future athletics track overlay for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Therefore, the irrigation and drainage for the field was designed to accommodate both scenarios; a long-term natural turf playing surface, and a short-term athletics track overlay.

 

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