The Eric Tweedale Stadium is a recently completed rugby sports stadium at Grandville Park. It was named after the longest living Australian rugby player, Eric Tweedale, who turned 100 this year. The stadium sits between the busy Woodville Road and Merrylands Train Station, and the main feature is the canopy of the structure, made from mass timber. The mass timber canopy contains one of the largest discontinuous and double cantilevers, and as a stadium canopy, it is a first for Australia.
The local history and heritage inspire the canopy, and the modest nature of Aboriginal architecture and later influence of Colonial architecture has inspired the simple forms of the Granville Stadium. Likewise, the selection of colours and raw materials were inspired by nature, massive existing grey and red gumtrees to the west of the building. Ivana Simkovic, Associate Design Director of Design Worldwide Partners, and Nicholas Boey, Northrop Engineers, will present the background to the design of the structure. The use of mass timber meant careful consideration of issues such as supply, durability, and maintenance was required to bring about this successful design.
SPEAKERS
Ivana Simkovic - Associate Design Director of Design World Partners
Ivana is a design-oriented architect for dwp architects, with 20 years of experience in architecture, urban design & interior design. Her experience spans a broad range of sectors and project scales, including master planning, civic, sport and leisure, education, workplace and commercial projects in Australia and Europe.
She is presently Associate Design Director in dwp and a vice president of Association of Consulting Architects NSW/ACT. Her commitment to design excellence shows through her innovative thinking and design review processes to ensure projects achieve the best outcomes for the client.
Nicholas Boey - Associate Structural Engineer Northrop
Nick is a structural engineer and associate at Northrop Consulting Engineers. He has contributed to the structural design of three mass timber office buildings, two fitout projects within mass timber office buildings; the Granville Park stadium project is currently working on two new mass timber buildings that are currently in the design phase.
He is particularly interested in how architectural norms need to be re-examined to allow for timber structures and how this understanding is developing in the industry at a rapid pace.