Reinventing Margaret Court Arena

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF AIRAH DECEMBER 2015 · VOLUME 14.11 Ecolibrium Ace Reinventing Margaret Court Arena PRINT POST APPROVAL NUMBER PP352532/00001 COVER FEATURE Services ace Every January, thousands Once played on the quaint grass When the tournament first moved from courts of Kooyong in Melbourne’s leafy Kooyong to the then newly built Flinders of tennis fans from across eastern suburbs, the Australian Open Park (later renamed Melbourne Park) in the country and around the – the first grand slam of the calendar 1988, attendance numbers immediately year and the only major to be played increased by 90 per cent to 266,436. globe descend on Melbourne in the southern hemisphere – has grown These numbers have continued to grow for the Australian Open. to become an iconic international as the facility has expanded over time, sporting event. So it goes without saying that with last year’s attendances smashing the Attracting all the leading players from previous record set in 2012, with 703,899 the facilities at Melbourne Park around the world as well as international visitors attending over the two-week event. need to be world-class. And as sponsors, crowds and a worldwide Much of this recent growth can be Sean McGowan reports, a recent television audience, the Open has grown attributed to the recent redevelopment exponentially in the 27 years it has been of the Melbourne Park precinct, including upgrade has ensured they are. held at Melbourne Park. that of Margaret Court Arena. 22 ECOLIBRIUM • DECEMBER 2015 COVER FEATURE This led to an announcement by the Victorian government of a multi- stage, $704 million redevelopment With wind-driven of Melbourne Park to future-proof air movement the home of the tournament. between the At the heart of the Stage 1 works was the redevelopment of Margaret Court two concourses Arena. This included the installation of a retractable roof and the addition difficult to predict of 1,500 extra seats to increase capacity to 7,500 spectators. and manage, the The works also included an upgrade to the mechanical systems western concourse, such that it would be shared by both the Rod Laver Arena and are set up so that the new Margaret Court Arena (MCA). there is little CLOSING interaction EVERYTHING IN As part of the successful bid team challenge on the project,” says Craig that included the joint-venture architect Peterkin, building services for Aurecon. NH+Populous, Aurecon provided structural, civil and building services “The builder took possession of the site engineering for the new arena. in mid-2012, with handover in November 2014, which meant the works had to allow Preliminary works commenced in for two three-month periods when no April 2010, and were scheduled around construction could occur. In reality, the the tournament (held each January) so downtime extended longer than this to as to maintain amenity for players, staff allow for mobilisation activities either and visitors. side of this period.” Following completion of the 2012 To facilitate the temporary handover tournament, works began on the MCA. of the site some temporary infrastructure “Staging of the construction works around had to be built in such as sprinklers, two Australian Opens was always a key fire detection and air conditioning. Named after Australia’s most successful women’s tennis player (who won more Grand Slam titles than any other player in the history of the sport), the arena was originally conceived as the open-aired Show Court 1. It played second fiddle to the 15,000-seat National Tennis Centre, now known as Rod Laver Arena. But as the tournament grew, so too did the need to cater for growing spectator numbers. Within just 12 years of the Open moving to Melbourne Park, a 10,500 seat multi-purpose venue, now known as Hisense Arena, was added. This placed Show Court 1 as the third largest capacity venue for the tournament. But still visitor numbers to the Australian Open continued to grow, such that by 2010 an additional 100,000 spectators were attending the tournament than had done a decade previously. Margaret Court Arena sits adjacent to centre court, the Rod Laver Arena. Image courtesy Aurecon. DECEMBER 2015 • ECOLIBRIUM 23 COVER FEATURE “IT’S CRAZY. IT’S UNHEARD OF, IT REALLY IS… THERE’S NO WAY.” One of the drivers for the arena’s redevelopment was to provide better protection from the sun and heat for spectators. Image courtesy Aurecon. At first, Joel Walton could not believe that Climate Wizard would cut cooling A key driver for the redevelopment costs by 80%. For a large manufacturing of the MCA was to provide better amenity Among the sustainability initiatives and protection to spectators from the SERVING UP LEED deployed across the redevelopment facility, that type of energy cost saving sun and heat during the open. Though As part of a separate commission, of Margaret Court Arena are low temperate for most of the year – and Aurecon was engaged to look into water use in cooling towers, water- would be breathtaking. downright cool in winter – Melbourne a number of sustainability rating efficient fittings and fixtures, and a has some blisteringly hot days in summer, precinct rainwater collection system systems that could be employed You can see Joel’s story here: and the dog days of January are often across the whole site as part of to reduce the use of mains water Once Climate Wizard was installed, he the worst. Before the redevelopment, the Melbourne Park master plan. for toilet flushing. Melbourne Park had only two covered climatewizard.com/joel venues and limited shading across Ultimately, the project has come The arena’s retractable roof also was singing a different tune. the precinct. to adopt the U.S Green Building features a roof coating that reflects Council’s LEED rating system, more than 70 per cent of the sun’s Though enclosing the arena wit h with aspirations for every project heat to keep the facility cooler during a retractable roof was part of the across the precinct to achieve hot days. Performance that isn’t too good to be true - it’s hyper-efficient solution (see sidebar), the other part Gold certification. was conditioning the space effectively so Buntine says achieving the rating Some of the world’s top HVAC engineers and specifiers have conducted exhaustive as to provide a comfortable environment “There were a number of reasons required a high level of commitment that was at least equivalent to the larger why LEED was adopted,” says Chris and cooperation by the key technical due diligence on Climate Wizard, substantiating benefits such as: Rod Laver Arena (RLA). Buntine, ESD leader for Aurecon stakeholders. in Melbourne. “Like any internal spectator venue with “One of the highlights in working • Lower cooling costs up to 80% potentially large crowds, one of the key “Firstly, LEED is the leading global on the LEED process,” he says, challenges is being able to deliver the third-party sustainability rating “was to be part of a team, including • Generate dry, 100% fresh air large quantities of air required to cool, tool for sports and entertainment Aurecon, NH+Populous, Lendlease, venues, so it was well suited to Major Projects Victoria and • Easy retrofitting to existing refrigerated coolers to make them last longer heat and ventilate the large spaces,” mihellandlycos.com.au says Peterkin. an international venue such as Melbourne and Olympic Parks, Margaret Court Arena as well as that took the sustainability goals and lower costs This needed to be achieved in an other projects that are part of the seriously and worked diligently energy-efficient manner so as to Melbourne Park redevelopment.” throughout the extended design and • Flexible design and applications to suit demands for different indoor meet the project’s LEED Gold rating construction process to integrate aspirations. LEED Gold is the equivalent “Secondly, it is a world-recognised sustainability into the project.” environments, capital equipment, foot print and external climates of 5 star Green Star. rating tool, and one of the main aims of the master plan was to Margaret Court Arena has become (from the very dry to the very humid) secure Melbourne Park’s status the second project on the site INDEPENDENCE DAYS as a world-recognised venue. And to achieve a LEED Gold rating, With no capacity to extend or enhance finally, LEED was the tool best following the completion of the the systems serving the adjacent RLA, suited to accommodate the different Eastern Plaza project (incorporating and with space for plant and duct routing Melbourne Park redevelopment the National Tennis Centre) earlier To find out how much you can save on energy costs, please call: in Stage 1 of the development. extremely limited, the design team was building projects.” presented with a number of challenges. Blair Tomlinson, Technical Sales: 0411 768 487 24 ECOLIBRIUM • DECEMBER 2015 www.climatewizard.com COVER FEATURE towers that were selected based on the limited space requirements. Additionally, the facility is served by three 1.1MW boilers. According to Peterkin, the HVAC system is designed in two parts to allow each part to be broken down into quadrants so as to minimise duct runs and to provide zonal control. The first system serves the concourse, which is shared in part with the RLA, while the second serves the arena itself (referred to as “the bowl”). Although this allows the concourse system to be operational without the bowl, it required the existing air balance in the RLA concourse to be reviewed. Large and heavy acoustic ductwork was installed at heights of up to 16m, requiring The impact on smoke control was also careful planning and skilled on-site management.

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