Sports Facilities Tour
The year is in full swing and here at Studio106 Architect we has some great sports based projects on the go.
Last week the team at Studio106 Architect hit the road in search of sports based facilities around Auckland. The intention was to refresh our knowledge and broaden our research into different sports codes. It was also a great chance to get out of the office and onto some active sports facilities; gaining fresh inspiration and benefiting from some great weather along the way too.
The aim was to gather and refresh our understanding of different sports codes including: Athletics, Rugby League, Hockey, Tennis and Gym Sports as well as multi-sport parks in general, and feed back into our current projects, such as Nga Puna Wai
At Studio106 we believe it is important to balance research gathered from the Internet with site visits to active project precedents. Each means of research offers different strengths and insights. Visiting an active sports facility allowed us to tap into how players, spectators and facilities managers engage and utilise the space.
Our tour took us from Bruce Pullman Park to the Trust Arena, with a few stops along the way. Below is a selection of photographs from each of the site visits.
Bruce Pullman Park – Gym Sports
Also on Bruce Pullman Park
• Grass based turfs
• Sand based turfs
• Cricket ovals – both artificial and natural
• Indoor and outdoor netball
• Accommodation
• And a new facility currently being completed that includes 8 indoor basketball courts and grandstands as well as conference facilities. We were lucky enough to have a peak inside the facility….
Mt Smart Stadium – Athletics track
We thought that the grandstand at Mt Smart was at a great scale and offered a nice proximity to the track.
• International Standard Athletics Facility
• Home of Auckland Athletics
The Trust Arena – Douglas Track and Field
The Trust arena has the capacity to seat 3000 spectators and has an impressive grandstand.
Currently the Douglas Track and Field is used for:
• Public Displays
• The Annual Waitakere Lions Club Fireworks Show
• Cultural Festivals
• All Blacks Trainings
• Diwali Festival of Lights
• Rugby, Football, Touch Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee and a host of other sports…
Over all the day was a success and the team enjoyed the onsite, practical side that the tour offered. We look forward to using our new found inspiration in some of our existing projects.
