A First For New Zealand
Stadium Southland Velodrome located in Surrey Park, Invercargill, is the first indoor cycling facility of its kind in
New Zealand.
The project was led by Calder Stewart Construction, who brought considerable local and overseas experience to the design and construction.
For a city of 50,000 this was an ambitious project which presented many challenges. Whilst Invercargill is home to a very strong cycling fraternity it was not practical to have a dedicated cycling facility but required the flexibility to cater to numerous community sport and leisure activities. The brief and challenge was to recognise the variety of uses and resolve the issues of often conflicting demands.
New Zealand’s first indoor velodrome grew out of a combined need for additional indoor courts at the Stadium Southland sports complex and a new velodrome to replace the city’s ageing outdoor track.
“Major sports facilities such as this are often built for one-off events such as Olympic or Commonwealth games, without regard for long-term use,” says Steve Canny, President Cycling Southland, “We could not afford such luxury and the requirement was to produce a world class stadium which would serve the entire community and be economically sustainable.”
The Stadium Southland trustees put considerable faith in the reputation of Calder Stewart Construction when they ignored the traditional tender method and approached Calder Stewart Construction for a Design and Build with GMP for the community facility. The exacting nature of the construction of a world class sport facility put every skill Calder Stewart Construction offers to the test. “We are proud to report,” says Project Manager, Lindsay Bowmar, “that on completion the level of finish exceeded all client expectations.”
With no direct New Zealand based facility such as this to draw on Southland Indoor Leisure Centre and the design and build contractor, Calder Stewart Construction, ventured offshore to Germany and the UK to assess successful World class facilities of a similar type to the proposed centre.
“From a design and construction perspective this experience proved invaluable,” says Calder Stewart Constructions project Manager Lindsay Bowmar. “We were able to glean considerable information and made direct contact with a variety of skilled professionals in the field.”
The project was a design and build to a GMP, using consultants from
throughout New Zealand and internationally. The track itself was delivered as a separate contract with specialised velodrome designer and builder, Ralph Schurman from Germany. Schurman Architects are one of only two companies in the world who specialise in the design and construction of cycling tracks at this level. The siberian pine for the track was imported in containers from Germany and was installed by hand-nailing into place in just 6 weeks.
The building takes its architectural and structural cues from the profile of the velodrome track in a straightforward ‘honest’ engineering solution. This is despite the obvious challenge of fitting a building around a continuously changing curve where each of the 4 bends is a different three-dimensional profile. The ‘cad drawings’ were not line drawings, but hundreds of X, Y and Z coordinates. By nature the structure has very few corners and the building was set out by Alan Reay Consultants using these coordinates. The accuracy of this work enabled Calder Stewart Construction to build to within a 1mm tolerance which was verified by the track builder Ralph Schurman.
The experience of Calder Stewart Construction in both the manufacture and construction of pre-cast concrete, steel-framed and profiled steel clad buildings proved invaluable.
Statistically the project was one of mammoth proportions with 1300 cubic meters of insitu concrete, 60 tonnes of reinforcing steel, 7000 meters of cold rolled purlins and studs, 11,000 meters of roof and wall cladding, 2,800 meters of flashing and 69,000 fixing screws.
Approximately 400 individual pieces of concrete were required, many of which were manufactured in Calder Stewart Constructions precast yard in Christchurch, and transported to the site. Those to large to be transported were made on site to sit on 328 "
‘frankie’ piles that reach an average depth of 3.5m in testing gravels.
The roof structure that forms a complex three dimensional curve is constructed from 127 tonne of steel supporting up to eight layers of either insulation, building papers, netting and MEGA 5 roofing.
While the velodrome track is undoubtedly the centrepiece the brief called for four indoor sports courts to cater for recreational and competitive netball, tennis, volleyball, soccer and athletics. The design also had to include facilities for corporate functions and trade shows.
On the practical side the project encompasses a large suite of offices for a variety of Southland sporting organisations, retail shops and a commercial gym.
“In essence,”says Brent Kinght, Project architect for McCulloch Architects,” it is a mini-community centre, an office building, retail centre, conference facility community sports centre and events venue all in one. To fulfil the criteria of all parties concerned represented a considerable design challenge and the result is a satisfying one making the project economically viable for the community. The facility has the added benefit of attracting events to the area which has benefits of recreational and economic value.”
Calder Stewart Construction together with McCulloch Architects drew on a wealth of experience in urban design and master planning to manage the relationships between these activities and ‘get the mix and relationships right’ to make a vibrant, sustainable facility.
The design solution was to wrap the public facilities such as the foyers, offices and retail areas around the perimeter of the building providing public street access.
“The velodrome is by virtue of its function an inward - looking building but the other facilities gave the opportunity to connect the building to the street and the park so it contributes positively to its environment.” says John McCulloch.