West Coast Eagles Training Facility

Perth, Australia

West Coast Eagles

Building on sustained on-field and off-field success, the West Coast Eagles needed a new training and administration facility to maintain its position as one of the nation’s top AFL teams.

Over the years, the existing West Coast Eagles’ training facility had expanded in an ad hoc manner. This meant a lack of coherence between facilities, which had also become outdated. On top of that, the site itself was too small to support the Club’s ambitions for growth. With a new breed of training facilities emerging across Australia, the Eagles needed to do something to keep pace. The solution? A move to a new site in southeast Perth, where a state-of-the-art facility could be developed to accommodate all the team’s departments.

Set within a residential area, the new development  was designed to be sympathetic to its surroundings. Reducing its visual impact, the three-story building is fronted by a single-story entrance, with the other levels folding into the surrounding landscape. Each room within the center has been carefully designed and laid out to maximize interactions between players and coaching staff. The modern facilities include a double-height gym, pools with rehabilitation facilities, an altitude room, climbing wall and a large indoor practice field, which accommodates training during spells of bad weather or extreme heat. The design is also flexible enough to cater for the long-term needs of the club, including the addition of a women’s team in the future.

Community engagement was a top consideration for the Eagles. The precinct has been designed so that locals can access all of its public spaces, including one of the two oval playing fields, a running track, retail store and café. Visitors can see the team’s training areas and can view the internal training field from the entry lobby. There is a function room and business lounge available for community hire, which also provides additional revenue for the club. The building also houses the Waalitj Foundation, an organization which works to improve the quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through education, employment, justice and sport. 

The West Coast Eagles Training Facility has set a new benchmark in the AFL, and within the wider world of sport, reflecting the West Coast Eagles’ standing in the Australian Football League.