Locals score in design team for North Queensland stadium

Townsville architects 9Point9 are part of a Cox Architecture-led team chosen to deliver a Pandanus tree-inspired design for the $250 million North Queensland Stadium.

Acting Premier Curtis Pitt today unveiled the winning design concept with the winning design team and Federal Cities Minister Angus Taylor and Townsville City Council Mayor Jenny Hill.

“The Pandanus-inspired roof creates a suitably iconic shape for North Queensland but is also practical, covering 80 percent of the stadium’s 25,000 seats and designed to resist cyclonic wind conditions,” Mr Pitt said.

“Cox Architecture’s genuine local input and partnership is in line with one of the Palaszczuk Government’s key objectives for this project - local jobs, business and training opportunities.”

• Cox’s design team incorporates a number of specialist consultancies with Townsville offices, including:
• 9point9 Architects
• Ashburner Francis (mechanical and electrical)
• Arup (structural, civil, traffic and transport, Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) specialists, acoustics)
• Parker Hydraulics
• RPS (landscaping and surveying)
• Douglas Partners (geotechnical)
• Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University (specialist wind engineering)

North Queensland Stadium is a joint project of the Queensland Government ($140 million), Australian Government ($100 million) and Townsville City Council (land and enabling infrastructure) and is supported by the National Rugby League ($10 million) with a total project budget of $250 million.

The project is expected to generate about 750 jobs during design and construction.

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister on Cities, Angus Taylor, said the Stadium Project Agreement signed today in Townsville would maximise opportunities for Townsville business involvement in the construction of the Stadium.

“I'm pleased that this agreement will also benefit Indigenous Australians. Employment targets will apply to the construction of the stadium, giving local Indigenous people more job opportunities.”

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said she welcomed today’s announcement as a vital step in bringing renewed confidence to the city.

“The strong emphasis on the use of local contractors is proof of the region’s wealth of talent and skills and had been pivotal in ensuring the design reflected the North Queensland spirit and conditions,” she said.

“We look forward to working with Cox Architecture on this project that is expected to provide a much needed catalyst to revitalise Townsville.”

Cox Architecture’s North Queensland Stadium concept design also features:

• corporate facilities, amenities, permanent concessions and state-of-the-art IT throughout
• an open, grassed terrace at the northern end to allow views to the city and Magnetic Island
• generous arrival plazas and landscaped greens
• sports lighting incorporated into the stand roofing, eliminating the need for light towers
• stormwater run-off management to protect the water quality of Ross Creek
• environmental sustainability initiatives, such as low energy LED sports/broadcast lighting and opportunities for solar generated power
• options for future further development on the site.

Cox Architecture’s other local projects include Tony Ireland Stadium, Thuringowa Riverway Arts Centre and Lagoons, Flinders Street revitalisation, the Museum of Tropical Queensland and Townsville Hospital.

Mr Pitt also announced the appointment of AECOM Consulting as quantity surveyor and Resource Coordination Partnership as audit programmer for the project. Both firms have Townsville offices and scored strongly against the key assessment criterion for local content.

Expressions of interest for the managing contractor opened last week and close on 18 January, 2017.

The managing contractor is expected to be appointed by April with on site early works scheduled to start mid-year, and to be completed in time for the start of the 2020 NRL season.

Local businesses can continue to register for the work packages at northqueenslandstadium.icn.org.au/

For more information visit statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/nqs

Media inquiries:

Min Taylor – Sarah Bucknell 0448 111 669
A/Premier Pitt – Scott Forbes 0419 945 546
Mayor Hill – Suzanne Schmidt 0458 779 190