Proponents of the Macquarie Point Stadium remain steadfast that it will be delivered on time and on budget, following the release of new artist impressions. The highly anticipated images reveal what the government claims will be the largest timber-roofed stadium in the world.
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00:00More than two years in the making, brand new official artists' impressions of the proposed
00:07Macquarie Point Stadium, an earthy wooden wonder with a translucent domed roof, the
00:13world's first and largest timber-roofed stadium.
00:17We had comments like, you could put this anywhere in Tasmania, it would feel like it would fit.
00:22This feels like a Tasmanian product and people were really excited.
00:25It will be 54 metres high at its peak, 10 metres more than originally envisioned, but
00:30the trade-off is significantly reduced height around its edges, owing to the curved nature
00:36of the dome, which will be supported by steel and timber.
00:39That gives us a sustainable outcome, it gives a Tasmanian outcome and it helps us give a
00:44world first.
00:45The concept's conjured in eight weeks by Cox Architects and local firm Cumulus, with the
00:51impact on the nearby Cenotaph front of mind.
00:54We looked at a variety, very quickly, of different roof options, but the dome was actually the
00:59most softest in terms of the overall landscape.
01:02The stadium will be able to be expanded in future years for added capacity.
01:07It will be naturally ventilated with a self-cleaning roof.
01:11No issues with shadows affecting Devils or Hurricanes games, according to architects,
01:17who remain supremely confident it can be built on the nine hectare reclaimed site.
01:23We've done a very fine balancing of the final level, in relation to making sure the building
01:27doesn't come up too high, putting it at the right level that addresses the water table
01:31issues, putting it at the right level that combines cut and fill across the site.
01:35As for the heritage listed goods shed, that'll remain on site, but relocated to the northern
01:41side of the stadium.
01:43And I think that keeping that history on the site is really important, so that it still
01:48has a memory of what it used to be.
01:51Public opinion is so far predictably mixed.
01:54It's been labelled everything from perfect, to a pimple, to a disgrace, to uniquely Tasmanian.
02:01There will be people who might have been 50-50 on this that will be really, really impressed
02:06by the designs.
02:07There'll be one overbite.
02:09But the renders have done little to placate the stadium's fiercest opponents.
02:14I don't think dressing up the images of this stadium in timber trusses and native forest
02:20cladding is going to win anybody over in Tasmania.
02:23This is a significant challenge.
02:25Accountants may be nervous about a project deemed the world's largest and world's first,
02:31but proponents and the government remain adamant the designs can be brought to life within
02:37the allotted $715 million budget.
02:41The first consultant we appointed was our quantity surveyor team.
02:43They have been sitting alongside this the whole way.
02:46They report to us, they're separate to the design team, and we're confident we can meet
02:50our budget.