Roofing and walling systems from Kingspan Insulated Panels were used to create a striking facade on the Eagle Stadium, West Melbourne’s biggest indoor sporting court facility. The multi-coloured facade was created as part of the $47-million redevelopment of the 15,000-square-metre Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
A key design objective of the facade was to create a local icon for the stadium, which was achieved with Kingspan’s roofing and walling systems.
Gray Barton, Director of Williams Ross Architects, which specialises in the design of leisure, sport and aquatic centres, explained that the clean lines and distinct colours were visually strong enough to let the stadium be a landmark in its own right, without the need for significant signage.
The facade was built using more than 15,000 metres of Trapezoidal roof panels and almost 7,000 metres from the Kingspan range of architectural wall panels in ten different colours. The palette continues indoors with the use of Kingspan’s insulated roof panels, which have greatly contributed to the internal aesthetic, allowing them to use a warmer Dune colour rather than standard off-white.
The Kingspan wall and roof panels provide clean lines and warm colours to create a welcoming environment for facility users and spectators. The sporting facility houses 12 indoor multi-sport courts, 1,000 square metres of community gym facilities, and seating for 1,500 spectators at the show court.
In addition to meeting all aesthetic goals, the panels were also able to achieve a thermally-efficient and comfortable indoor environment. According to Barton, they were allowed by the council to deliver an integrated solution with the building envelope at the core, rather than implementing a series of plug-in solutions.
Barton explained that Eagle Stadium had several thermal zones with varying mechanical and ventilation strategies from fully air-conditioned spaces, to indirect evaporative cooled spaces, and spaces with natural cross ventilation.
The Kingspan wall and roof panels provided a fully integrated solution that enclosed all areas with a thermal inertia, suitable for each of the different ventilated spaces. This ensured the facility could hold an internal temperature for longer, with less energy or air change required, to maintain a suitable indoor sports environment.
Barton added that the Kingspan team demonstrated a strong understanding of the product’s physical properties and detailed material junctions, helping them make the most of the panels’ application – from the overall facade scale across 200 metres to the smallest of material junctions to seal the building enclosure.
The Kingspan team attended regular site inspections to ensure the panels were being installed to specification, delivering on the sustainable design principles laid out by Williams Ross.
Key advantages of Kingspan insulated roof and wall systems include unique FIREsafe and FIBREfree Insurer Approved PIR (Polyisocyanurate) insulation core sandwiched between two layers of metal – an external weather side and a pre-finished internal liner; single component panel design replacing multi-part construction to simplify installation, allowing other trades and materials to continue work inside the structure; and single-fix installation with high thermal performance, insulation continuity, minimal air leakage and elimination of interstitial cavity condensation and cold bridging.
The project used Kingspan architectural wall panels in Coral White, Gull Grey, Heritage Red, Mandarin, Manor Red, Off White, Shale Grey and Tamworth Gold.
Trapezoidal roof panels in Dune were offset by Kingspan’s insulated box gutters in Mid Grey Ral. Top hats in Gull Grey, Manor Red, Off White and Shale Grey were also used.
