Delivering one of Queensland’s first timber-roofed stadiums, and the longest cantilevered timber structure in Australia

At a Glance

  • $54M

    Construction Value

  • 12m

    Cantilevered Roof

  • 14

    Disciplines

Location
Rockhampton, Queensland
Offices
Client
  • Cox Architecture
Partners
  • Theca Timber
Architect
Cox Architecture
Image Credit
Cox Architecture

Browne Park Redevelopment

Preparations for the Brisbane 2032 Summer Olympics offer Queensland the ideal opportunity to address sustainability and carbon neutrality in venue construction. The first phase of redeveloping the existing venue, Browne Park, includes the Western Grandstand, a new three-storey facility providing club services, corporate areas, and 4,000 seats.

In partnership with Theca/Rubner Holzbau, we designed an innovative and aesthetically pleasing timber roof for the stadium, framed with glued-laminated (glulam) timber beams. Structural loads, span dimensions, and fire requirements often limit roof construction solutions to concrete and steel, but the opportunity to construct the roof in timber was considered feasible despite its location in a cyclonic area. Analysis of both the timber and steel solutions found that while timber had a marginally higher capital cost, it had a fundamentally better performance for carbon emissions. A 400-tonne net saving in CO2 content is the annual equivalent of removing 40 cars from the road.

The pioneering design of the timber roof allows for a 12-metre cantilever over the grandstand and addresses sustainability in venue construction—making the finished grandstand one of the first timber-roofed stadiums in Queensland, and the longest cantilevered timber structure in Australia.

At a Glance

  • $54M

    Construction Value

  • 12m

    Cantilevered Roof

  • 14

    Disciplines

Location
Rockhampton, Queensland
Offices
Client
  • Cox Architecture
Partners
  • Theca Timber
Architect
Cox Architecture
Image Credit
Cox Architecture

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