Redeveloping a Historical Sport Venue - Sports Facility Revitalization

Location :

Heidelberg, VIC

Client :

Banyule City Council

Year :

2019-2020

Sector :

Natural Turf | Synthetic Turf | Soccer

Recently, SPORTENG has applied its knowledge for the redevelopment of the Olympic Park. Formerly known as the Olympic Park Village, it was constructed for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. The Heidelberg venue was used as the official warm-up for the Olympics and consisted of a cinder running track.

The facility is home to the Heidelberg United Football Club and prior to the redevelopment works commencing, the facility still consisted of the original porous athletics running track, and the infield was used as the soccer pitch.

THE CHALLENGE

Due to its historical past, the site has not been without its challenges. Buried topsoil one meter beneath the existing surface, construction rubble and contaminated soils are some of the latent conditions that have been worked through during the Construction Phase Consulting Services phase.

Having worked closely with Council to develop the masterplan for the redevelopment of the whole 10-hectare site, which included a staged construction. SPORTENG were engaged to complete the detailed design of the first two stages.

THE SOLUTION

The first stage included redeveloping the porous athletics facility into an elite natural turf pitch. The profile for the pitch consists of a perched water table to help encourage deep root growth while also improving moisture retention and management within the profile.

A unique design aspect is that the pitch is an additional 10 meter longer than a standard pitch. This enables the pitch to slide north or south to move the high wear areas in front of the goals.

Stage Two included the design and documentation for a synthetic MiniRoos pitch which will enable all year use regardless of the weather for the club and the community. A new 147-spaces carpark with direct access from Southern Road will not only improve the functionality of the venue but remove vehicles having to drive through the adjacent residential streets to access the current facility.

A memorial park is also being constructed during the Stage Two works to illustrate the previous history of the site. The original porous material from the athletics track will be reused to retain elements of the past.

THE RESULTS

When this project started, Mr Eren, then Minister for Sport, declared “This historic ground has brought people together for decades – now we’re proud to deliver the work it needs to make these clubs more competitive and successful.”

(Source: neoskosmos.com)

"The transformation of Olympic Village to an ultramodern stadium will be a big win for [...] both the local and wider football community of Victoria. But above all, it is a win for Heidelberg and the members who have persevered to elevate this club to where it is today", declared club President Steve Tsalikidis.

(Source: neoskosmos.com)

SPORTENG is proud to have been associated with the Design and Construction Phase Consulting Services of such a high-quality facility, and is looking forward to seeing the future stages developed.

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Olympic Park
Redeveloping a historical sport venue
Victoria

THE CHALLENGE

THE SOLUTION

THE RESULTS

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Olympic ParkRedeveloping a historical sport venueVictoria

THE CHALLENGE

THE SOLUTION

THE RESULTS

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Olympic Park
Redeveloping a historical sport venue
Victoria