Sydney, Australia
Lendlease
The CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, formerly known as Bankwest Stadium, delivers the ultimate live sports experience with the design of its seating bowl taking intensity and atmosphere to a new level. The 30,000-seat rectangular stadium is part of the New South Wales Government’s strategy to recognize the expansion and growing importance of Sydney’s West.
Western Sydney has a strong sporting base and tradition in both Rugby League and Football (Soccer) and the project aimed to create the best possible venue to watch the game live. At the same time, the stadium needed to belong to the wider community, so deliberate efforts have been made to ensure it is as family friendly as possible, as well as a distinctive landmark for Western Sydney.
The stadium’s premium product is designed with Western Sydney’s more egalitarian nature in mind and includes Australia’s first continuous suite deck allowing for a social in-bowl “balcony” experience to make the most of Sydney’s great climate. Another innovation includes Australia’s first rectangular stadium field suite, bringing fans closer to their teams.
There is also a family seating zone, roughly twice the size of the previous family stand, with direct connections to a Kids’ Zone and nearby family activation areas.
A new conferencing and banqueting center can be adapted from the western premium stand to provide the city of Parramatta with the greatest possible use of the venue on non-event days.
The stadium opened in April 2019 and since then more than 500,000 fans have passed through the turnstiles to witness sport and entertainment events.
An additional 27,000 visitors attended functions, business meetings, community or cultural events in the same time period, and the stadium has hosted myriad concerts, including Cold Chisel, Hoodoo Gurus and Elton John.
Independent economic analysis conducted for the City Council has shown that CommBank Stadium is bringing a financial benefit of nearly $1 million to Parramatta each time an event is held at the Stadium.
CommBank Stadium was designed to be an identifiable symbol for Western Sydney, a venue that not only provides the best possible experience to watch live sport, but is flexible and multifunctional enough to be used by the community all year round.
The seating bowl brings spectators as close as possible to the field of play while also providing the best viewing quality. The 360-degree continuous bowl, which is at the steepest permissible angle, totally encloses the field of play with a wall of fans. When combined with the specially-designed roof, where fabric is mounted on the underside of the structure, these features enhance the acoustics, heighten the intensity and create a great atmosphere.
For the first time in Australia, there are convertible safe standing positions in the North Stand. This provides standing positions for the active home football fan during the season, and converts to seats for rugby fans in winter.