The roof of Melbourne’s new Rectangular Stadium will be covered in thousands of LED lights that can shine any colour and be programmed into a multitude of patterns, thanks to a new lighting design.
The lighting scheme will put the $267.5 million Rectangular Stadium up there with Beijing’s water cube and the 2006 World Cup stadium Allianz Arena in Munich, major projects minister Tim Pallas said.
“The Rectangular Stadium will be an amazing landmark and a shimmering new beacon in the Melbourne skyline. It won’t just be the sporting events inside that attract attention, the stadium itself will be a spectacle,” Pallas said.
The illuminated stadium will be environmentally friendly, with the LED lights using around one tenth of the power required to floodlight the stadium and without any light spill into the surrounding area.
“The design also avoids the problems normally associated with floodlighting buildings, which can attract insects and birds. The team of artists and lighting designers at Electrolight have created programme that is a work-of-art in itself,” Pallas said.
The lighting will be programmed to tell the story of the stadium in an abstract way, describing the history and landscape of the site, anticipation before a game and the excitement and energy of the match.
Currently under construction on Edwin Flack Field in the Olympic Park Precinct, the stadium will provide Melbourne with a purpose-built, medium-sized rectangular pitch stadium with a world-class playing surface.
Designed by COX Architects with engineering assistance from Arup and Norman Disney and Young, the project is due to be completed at the end of 2009.
