Cairns will keep its timber-framed stadium after Queensland Premier David Cristafulli today confirmed that Barlow Park will host Olympic Football and potentially NRL matches after a $91-million development.
Wood Central understands that the work, which involves the construction of a temporary 20,000-seat stadium, will see the venue host group stage matches for the women’s and men’s football tournaments before being scaled down to 5,000 seats after the games.
The upgrade will rebuild the current 1,700-seat West Stand with a new capacity of 3,500 permanent seats and 1,500 fully retractable seats for use over the existing athletics track – with new renders showing a grandstand supported by enormous glulam beams.
The commitment comes after the the Queensland Government’s Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) today confirmed the location of all major venues ahead of the 2032 games.
“By being honest and copping that on the chin. I have to own that, and I will, and I am sorry, and it’s my decision, and I accept that decision,” Premier Cristafulli told the media, adding that a slew of major stadium, arena and infrastructure developments would be “fully funded” with support of some private-public partnerships – including the $300m Athletes village now at the RNA Showgrounds.
That includes Barlow Park, Cairns’s premier football and athletics facility, which comprises two rectangular fields, an IAAF-standard athletics track with grassed field, long jump pits, a grandstand and more:
“The Barlow Park Stadium will receive major upgrades with increased seating capacity and spectator facilities, including a new grandstand with a permanent seating capacity of 5,000 seats,” according to the GIICA’s 2032 Delivery Plan published today. “These upgrades will deliver lasting legacy benefits to the growing Cairns region, putting Cairns in the box seat to attract major event hosting opportunities, such as the NRL, which will have flow-on impacts to the local tourism economy.”
The announcement comes after Wood Central reported that the Queensland government made “the difficult decision” to build a new legacy stadium at Victoria Park – at a cost of more than $3.8 billion to the taxpayer – rather than host the Athletics, Opening and Closing ceremonies at the Gabba or the QEII Stadium. In addition to Victoria Park, Premier Cristafulli said the new plans will include a national aquatic centre at Centenary Pool in Spring Hill—a legacy project expected to see Olympic and Paralympic sports move their headquarters to Brisbane permanently and major upgrades to the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson.
The IOC’s New Norms and Their Impact on Brisbane’s Olympic Venues
Last week, Wood Central revealed that the Brisbane Games must be delivered under the International Olympic Committee’s “New Norms”— which include more than 100 measures to make the Games more affordable, beneficial, and sustainable. Importantly, this includes more sustainable building materials, like mass timber, green steel, and recycled concrete, and, where feasible, upcycling venues (like Barlow Park).
In 2023, then-Premier Steven Miles pledged to build greener, cleaner, and more sustainable venues as part of an infrastructure commitment for the Brisbane games. As a result, organisers are now targeting a 6-Star Green Star rating for all new or significantly upgraded venues.
According to Toby Hodsdon, Associate Principal at Arup, these new norms create opportunities to build Brisbane’s venues out of timber. In a presentation last year, Mr Hodsdon said that timber-led venues not only help organisers meet sustainability targets but are also lightweight – and therefore assist with future alteration, increase the speed of construction, and manage supply risk.
Whilst timber solutions have constraints, namely durability (especially in subtropical areas), water egress, lack of knowledge, and insurance concerns, timber-led solutions, like a long-span timber roof, are proven and nothing new for the Olympic movement—with the Paris Aquatic Centre showing what is possible with timber-rich design.
- To read more about the Queensland Government’s plans, click here for the full renders.
