Modern stadium design involves a number of delicate balancing acts. The days of single-use, rudimentary and charmingly rough terraces are over, with the contemporary venue having to cater for a wide variety of needs.

Foremost among these needs is high level hospitality design and, at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, a unique collaboration between the commercial team at Space furniture and Venues NSW has provided exactly that. Designed by Cox Architecture, the stadium is notable not only for its rich Sydney history but also the variety of users and functional requirements in play. Brooke Lloyd, Cox director and interior design lead for the overall stadium project, speaks of the need to get “the suits and the tracksuits” to inhabit the same spaces.

The modern stadium is a place that must meet the needs of athletes and office workers – the Sydney Roosters not only play at the stadium but also house their offices and a club museum there, for example. For visitors, meanwhile, hospitality venues will make up some of the most important aspects of their experience.

The design project by Space involved working closely with the Venues NSW team in order to select commercial furniture pieces that would elevate and transform the spaces across all of the stadium’s public areas. Importantly, the brief here called for going beyond the traditional stadium interior aesthetic. The crucial balancing act for this kind of interior design in a stadium context is surely the ability to meet the robust, rigorous functional requirements of a public space environment without compromising on aesthetics, elegance or finesse.

Related: The new Sydney Football Stadium by Cox Architecture

Space has achieved this balance with the introduction of Spanish brand, Viccarbe, alongside trusted and world-leading partners such as B&B Italia, Moooi, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, SP01, Arflex and Kartell. The variety and extensive selections are necessary when you consider how many different interior settings were involved in the project – the Members Reserve areas, Members Bar, Legends Lounge and Sapphire Club are just some of the areas that Space fitted out.  

The approach throughout is defined by flexibility – each piece of furniture has been selected with adaptability in mind, as well as its ability to work for all sorts of different events. Images of the furniture in-situ tell the story of how many different settings and venues can be contained within a single stadium complex. The spaces range from hospitality areas with views in and out towards the field or city, public bars or more private spectator areas. Variations in colour, as well as a general emphasis on versatility, have allowed Space to cater for the full spectrum of use.

On a logistical front, the project is also notable for its fast and efficient completion, especially in the context of operating in an environment with significant supply chain issues. The work was completed in a time frame of just four months – a rather remarkable achievement and all the more striking because it was one of the largest interiors projects completed by the Space Commercial team. They provided a fully end-to-end, highly detailed and personalised consultancy service for Venues NSW.

It all makes for an even richer experience for the various users visiting the stadium at any time. Above all, the Space collection at Allianz Stadium has prioritised the coming together of function, elegance and finesse.

Space Furniture
spacefurniture.com.au

Cox Architecture
coxarchitecture.com.au

Photography
Martin Mischkulnig, unless credited separately

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