RP Infrastructure

Rod Laver Arena is one of Melbourne’s premier sporting and events venues, and is centre court for the annual Australian Open tennis tournament. The Arena’s complete refurbishment and extensions fall within Stage 2 of a three-part redevelopment of the wider Melbourne Park area targeting a LEED Gold rating. The refurbishment is programmed for completion over four years, with the Arena to remain operational throughout, including hosting concerts and the Australian Open each summer.

Project Overview

Beginning in February 2016, the Stage 2 redevelopment will provide greatly improved facilities for visitors, fans, players and performers. These include: a new three-level, main public entrance and new annexes; improved amenities to include more food and beverage outlets and toilets; accessible entrances to the seating bowl and expanded public concourse spaces, making it easier to move around the building.

Back-of-house improvements provide year-round services for artists, production crews, and for players during the Australian Open. New loading dock facilities and increased stage rigging capacity ensure the Arena can continue to host large touring events.

Our Role

RP Infrastructure (RPI) provided project management services via a staff secondment to Development Victoria.

Specifically, RPI was the design manager for the Rod Laver Arena refurbishment. Using a Managing Contractor the role involved finalising the design from the detailed design stage through to construction documentation. It also involved substantial stakeholder engagement – critically focussing on the needs of both the Melbourne & Olympic Park Trust and Tennis Australia, as well as various government departments.

Key Challenge

Rod Laver Arena remained operational throughout construction, with the construction program staged to ensure that critical operations continued throughout. This extended to the operations of the surrounding precinct and adjacent Margaret Court Arena, which shares some back-of-house areas. The design for the refurbishment was developed with separate procurement stages in mind.