Browne Park reopened in Rockhampton last Saturday 2 May as Aurizon Stadium, with a 90-metre glulam roof comprising twelve 20-metre beams cantilevering 12 metres over the western grandstand, delivering Australia’s longest cantilevered timber structure and one of the first timber-roofed stadiums in Queensland ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
That is according to Stantec, the structural engineering firm behind the timber roof, working alongside Italian glulam fabricator Theca/Rubner Holzbau, architects Cox Architecture and Italian connection-design specialist Ergodomus Timber Engineering on the Queensland Government-backed scheme. Wood Central understands the glulam elements were sized to fit within shipping containers for transport from the European Union and assembled on-site under a 100 per cent Building Information Modelling workflow, with Stantec leading work across fourteen engineering disciplines.
It comes as Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister Tim Mander, who refereed the 2004 and 2005 NRL Grand Finals, confirmed the final $3.5 million tranche of the $63 million Queensland Government commitment in September 2025, adding broadcast-standard lighting, a video replay scoreboard and upgraded field drainage to bring the venue to NRL hosting standard. “Browne Park has been the spiritual home of rugby league in Central Queensland,” Mander said.
Stantec’s analysis of timber and steel solutions found timber carried a marginally higher capital cost but delivered a 400-tonne net CO2 saving against the steel-equivalent design, the annual equivalent of removing 40 cars from the road, with the local municipality and designers commissioning an in-scale wind tunnel analysis after Cyclone Marcia hit Rockhampton in 2015. “In Rockhampton, winds can be extraordinarily strong, posing significant challenges to structural integrity,” Ergodomus said in its project description.
The reopening follows Wood Central reporting on Cox Architecture’s design of Hobart’s $1.13 billion Macquarie Point stadium, set to carry the world’s largest timber roof under a 190-metre Tasmanian-glulam dome, alongside Queensland Government commitments to mass timber for Brisbane 2032 Olympic Athletes’ Villages and Brisbane’s QAS National Throws Centre, the southern hemisphere’s first net-zero elite sporting facility.
Backed by the Queensland Government with naming rights from rail freight operator Aurizon, the redevelopment delivered a three-level grandstand with 3,253 seats, up from the previous 564, alongside upgraded lighting, an enhanced playing surface, expanded media and broadcast facilities, four universally designed change rooms, a large video screen and additional spectator amenities. “Rockhampton is incredibly important to Aurizon,” Aurizon Managing Director and CEO Andrew Harding said.
Browne Park Inc Chairman Paul Hoolihan said the redevelopment opened a new chapter for the venue, which has hosted rugby football in Central Queensland since 1890 and was renamed Browne Park in 1958 to honour the late Rockhampton Rugby League president Jack Browne. “Aurizon has been part of the Central Queensland story for generations,” Hoolihan said.
The Central Queensland Capras returned to the redeveloped venue on Saturday with a Round 8 victory over defending Hostplus Cup champions the Burleigh Bears, ending two seasons in exile. The venue is booked to host up to 16 Queensland Rugby League fixtures each season, alongside local finals and community events, with broadcast infrastructure now in place for higher-profile fixtures, including potential NRL premiership matches.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been retracted by Wood Central. It contained factually incorrect information about the materials used in Browne Park’s western grandstand roof. We apologise to readers and to the project team. For current information about the redevelopment, please refer to the Browne Park or Stantec project pages directly. Published: 6 May 2026 Retracted: 6 May 2026
