AAMI Park is one of Melbourne and the world’s most iconic stadiums, awarded the Most Iconic and Culturally Significant Stadium by the World Stadium Congress in 2012.
Project Name: AAMI Park
Studio Name: Cox Architecture
Project size: 55480 m2
Project Budget: $267500000
Completion date: 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Photography: Dianna Snape
AAMI Park continues the strong architectural lineage of Melbourne and Olympic Parks evidenced since 1956 by the Myer Music Bowl and Olympic Pool Complex, and later by Rod Laver Arena and the MCG. It represents a move forward by the city to provide residents and visitors alike with a first-class facility that embodies a pioneering approach to public architecture and in turn public life.
The design responds to its unique location through its integration of the multi-code sports campus, providing a stadium that is easily accessed by spectators and highly utilised by elite players and clubs. The client’s functional brief was to provide a facility for four separate football codes, with spectator seating as close to the action as possible.
The activated relationship to the streetscape, the civic-scaled entry stairs, and the flanking urban plazas all integrate the stadium into its landscaped context, providing a strong visual connection to the city, river and parklands.
A key philosophy was to provide the perfect seating bowl, with seats rising up to optimise the preferred east and west flanks with excellent sightlines and proximity to the action, while allowing close seats for the goal end fans at north and south. This form was articulated in a series of bays to maximise the sense of theatre and engagement that is so important to creating great events.
