A leading architect – located just a short stroll from the Gabba – has the solution for Brisbane’s Olympics…and it could be “hiding in plain sight.”
In his submission to the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority’s (GIICA) infrastructure review, Richard Kirk – the principal at Kirk Studios – is pitching ‘Gabba West’, a new 60,000-seat stadium that would become the world’s largest timber stadium, whilst the 40,000-seat Gabba (dubbed ‘Gabba East’) continue hosting AFL and cricket fixtures leading up to the Games.
Speaking to Brisbane Times, Kirk said the build would make Gabba West one of the world’s most sustainable stadiums: “The commitment made in the bid for the Olympics is that it would be six-star Green Star, and a core part of that is we should be replacing up to 40 per cent of the structure with renewable materials.”
“And the only renewable building material is timber.”
Richard Kirk , one of Australia’s leading architects leading the way in using mass timber construction.
“Australia’s got an excellent timber industry and if they’re given enough lead time, they can invest in the scale that they need, they can invest in the technology they need, to do a project of this order,” according to Kirk, who has been responsible for designing several of Australia’s largest projects built out of mass timber. “Everyone always looks at these projects as a just a city-building legacy, but there’s an industry-building legacy as well.”
A very tropical solution: 60,000-seat stadium to sit above mass transit systems
Kirk’s proposal would see the stadium sit atop the Cross River Rail and the Clem 7 tunnel – using timber rather than traditional steel-and-concrete construction to reduce the stadium’s weight – virtually eliminating the need for a longer walk to and from the new mass transit stadiums. And whilst placing a 60,000-seat stadium directly on top of the station presents “some issues”, Kirk insists these problems are not insurmountable, particularly if crowd dispersal is concerned not just a horizontal problem but also a vertical one.
“With a bit of design work, the Cross River Rail proximity and dealing with it in section, not just in the plan – that is, treating the movement vertically, not just horizontally – gives you that total dispersal,” he said. “In fact, it’ll be the only stadium where you can arrive without getting wet – that’s a very tropical solution.”
And given the Gabba’s proximity to bars and restaurants – something that Victoria Park lacks – not everyone would be going home at the same time: “You can create a destination precinct where people can spend time and linger, which is precisely what you want to do,” Kirk said. “You don’t want 60,000 people to leave straight away because the benefits of these events aren’t the ticket sales; they’re the activities that happen around that.”
Kirk said the concept came to him after driving past the site. “Design can happen pretty quickly,” he said, with the plan focused on retaining Queensland’s sporting heritage in Woolloongabba:
“It’s a mistake to move the sporting DNA out of its home. It just made so much sense that if you could keep it somehow, by making it work within the existing precinct, there were enormous benefits, like the transport, like the fact that it’s already owned by the public.”
Kirk on the importance of maintaining Queensland’s link to the Gabba.
The proposal would require some land to be resumed across the road at Vulture Street, which would be rerouted to the north: “You’re not going to find a pristine, empty site for a 60,000-seat stadium just waiting to be discovered in Brisbane,” Kirk said. “It’s going to be something that you’re going to have to create, and you’re going to have to orchestrate, in effect, by being clever.”
“How do you reorganise the traffic system? How do you expand your land holding? The amount of land that we’re talking is tiny – it’s a lot less than what they acquired to build the Brisbane South [State Secondary College] up in Dutton Park, so it’s quite modest in the scheme of things,” he said, adding that the heritage-listed St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral could be relocated without losing heritage value:
“Queenslanders know you can move a timber building easily,” he said. “I think we can find a new home for that. I don’t think the siting was particularly important to its listing, and I think the value proposition outweighs trying to preserve it in that current location.”
Gabba to operate as business-as-usual leading up to the games
Kirk Studio told GIICA the Gabba West proposal would allow the “Gabba East” stadium to remain operational until after the Olympics – where it will act as a warm-up facility for athletes (thus negating the contentious Raymond Park proposal) as well as a media and overflow facility – allowing up to 100,000 to attend the opening and closing ceremonies.
Post-Games, the old Gabba would then be demolished and replaced with housing and a park: “In Legacy Mode, Gabba West and Gabba East will operate in synergy, forming a unified precinct that enhances both functionality and urban vibrancy,” Kirk Studio says in its submission. “This integrated approach allows for seamless connections between the two areas, with the newly proposed street in the Gabba East precinct acting as a critical link.”
“The introduction of Gabba Park plays a pivotal role in this integration, offering a more sustainable, green space that enhances the precinct’s livability. Gabba Park mirrors the shape of the original oval from the 1970s, paying homage to the site’s rich history while providing a modern, multifunctional space.”
As for other proposed locations for an Olympic stadium, Kirk Studio says the Victoria Park proposal “presents a number of fatal issues”.
“The site is isolated from most of the existing major transport networks,” Kirk said in the submission: “Using existing green parkland to build a stadium means it will not meet the six-star Green Star rating obligations to not use greenfield land,” in reference to the International Olympic Committee’s New Norms which guide infrastructure.
“Ultimately, a noisy stadium and excited crowds next to one of Brisbane’s major hospitals will be a perpetual issue – sickness knows no time of the day.”
Kirk on Victoria Park’s fatal flaw.
And for former premier Steven Miles’s pick for the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre: “The QSAC site is large enough; however, it is almost totally void of any major transport networks and amenity.”
Kirk said it was not possible to “get anywhere close to what’s an accurate figure”, but the fact it was already state-owned land would help keep prices down: “It should be looked at from the other direction of what are the long-term benefits in doing this? And a lot of this renewal work that needs to happen with this project needs to happen at some point,” he said.
“Reorganising the road network around the Gabba is necessary. Connecting the Gabba with South Bank is a necessary piece of work that has to happen. Increasing housing in the Gabba is necessary.”
“That’s when you know that a project makes sense when it harnesses all the issues into one pot and hopefully leads to an outcome that solves many issues, not just the Olympic dilemma.”
Timber in Mix? Brisbane Design Alliance are also pushing for an all-wooden stadium.
Kirk’s new proposal comes months after an alliance of the world’s top architectural firms pushed for a timber-rich stadium to be located at Hamilton Northshore – near the site of the proposed Athletes village.
Spearheaded by Australian-based Buchan architects, Japanese architect Nikken Sekkei, and stadium specialist HKS, the principal architect behind SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, as well as NRA Collaborative and Aurecon, the team is pushing for a 60,000-seat stadium to be built on the banks of the Brisbane River. The stadium would be the centrepiece of an “all in one” games precinct, incorporating a hotel overlooking the venue, a 2500-apartment Athletes’ Village, pedestrian walkways, an aquatic and wave pool centre, and a retail and restaurant hub.
The only catch: the state government (and Premier Steven Miles – who is still wedded to the controversial QE2, Lang Park and Gabba developments), offer up the 150-hectare site between Bretts Wharf on Kingsford Smith Drive and the Royal Queensland Golf Club and help fix the transport problems that still plague Brisbane’s Northshore.
- To learn more about Brisbane’s plan for the 2032 Olympic Stadiums, visit the Wood Central special feature.
