Queens Park Sports Pavilion by Sam Crawford Architects
The zigzagging walls of a new sports pavilion in Queens Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs are inspired by the serrated leaf of the banksia serrata. A remnant of the once widespread Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub can be found near the site.
The amenities provide public and sporting communities with a functional and durably-designed, safe, accessible and light-filled facility. A central covered area provides shade, access and vistas and breaks down the building’s mass.
It provides a sheltered gathering space for sports teams and facilitates a new walkway connecting the two frontages. The building is pinched at both ends, also reducing the sense of overall mass, adding depth to the facade, and creating a separate sheltered area for spectators.
A floating skillion roof is cantilevered upwards towards the fields. Translucent fibreglass and perforated wire mesh over a steel frame forms the roof, providing ample natural light to the changerooms and amenities.
The zigzag walls feature an alternating brick pattern of stretcher bond and extruded Flemish bond, adding texture and interest, whist hit-and-miss brickwork allows connection and natural ventilation. The building features eco-concrete, timed LED lights, and recycled blackbutt timber benches.
Facilities include men’s, women’s and accessible bathrooms and change rooms, umpire facilities, and storage spaces. Landscaping screens and softens the building’s appearance, enhancing the sense of being embedded in the landscape.
Referencing the colours and form of the banksia, a 70-metre long artwork on the shared pathway between the building and sporting fields is designed to manage the flow of cyclists and walkers with sportspeople and spectators.
The building sits lightly in the landscape, receding into it through scale, form, material and colour, an aesthetic contribution to the wider Centennial Parklands.
Commissioned by Greater Sydney Parklands, the new facilities feature robust materials and a durable design. Translucent fibreglass and perforated wire mesh over a steel frame form the roof, providing natural light and ventilation to the change rooms and amenities.
An alternating brick pattern of stretcher bond and extruded Flemish bond adds texture and interest, whilst hit and miss brickwork allows connection and natural ventilation. The building features eco-concrete, timed LED lights, and recycled blackbutt timber benches. At one end are public amenities accessed directly via the pedestrian crossing, and at the other end, sports storage.
The building sits lightly in the landscape, receding into it through scale, form, material and colour, an aesthetic contribution to the wider Centennial Parklands. Landscaping screens soften the building’s appearance, enhancing the sense of being embedded in the landscape. And of course more banksia are planted.
The site is located on the land of the Gadi Peoples of the Eora Nation who traditionally occupied the Sydney coast. Queens Park is a significant and historical recreational area and was established in 1888. Source by Sam Crawford Architects.
Location: Queens Park, Sydney, Australia
Architect: Sam Crawford Architects
Project Manager: Greater Sydney Parklands
Structural Engineer: ACOR
Hydraulic Engineer: ACOR
Land Surveyor: Veris
Lighting and Electrical Engineer: ACOR
Quantity Surveyor: MBM
Access & BCA: DPC
Client: Greater Sydney Parklands
Status: Built late 2022
Photographs: Brett Boardman, Courtesy of Sam Crawford Architects
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Photo © Brett Boardman
Plan
