The Allianz Stadium gets a wall-to-wall makeover

The newly redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium, also known as Allianz Stadium, opened its doors in 2023 and has already catered to thousands of sports fans, along with other major events. Designed by Cox Architects, this stunning showcase of cuttingedge architecture boasts innovative seating and state-of-the-art media facilities, raising the bar for sports facilities on a national scale.

Designing a stadium of this magnitude comes with numerous complexities, especially when it comes to the interior walls and linings. They must accommodate heavy pedestrian traffic, various furniture and equipment requirements, and come in different sizes, shapes, and configurations. Additionally, they must meet high standards for functionality, acoustics, and insulation properties.

Rondo, a company specialising in steel wall and ceiling systems, was tasked with designing and manufacturing wall systems that could withstand the pressures exerted by wind and seismic loads. These walls were then installed with Gyprock, a plasterboard material, requiring a meticulous approach to ensure each room met its intended purpose.

Rondo expertly addressed the crucial elements of the project, such as crowd pressure and Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (FF&E). Their design engineers considered the load requirements outlined in the National Construction Code, which allowed them to create customised designs that met the nonstandard load requirements of specific areas in the stadium. These designs were tailored to work seamlessly with Gyprock’s versatile advanced range of products.

Sydney Plaster, the contractor, implemented Rondo’s designs, which involved the installation of back-to-back Steel Studs at 250mm centres. Two rows of double punch nogging tracks were also installed for MAXIjamb® Studs to ensure heavy loads could be transferred from Gyprock’s Impactchek™ 13 mm thick plasterboard directly into the Steel Stud frame. Gyprock 8mm Rigitone was specified for the ceilings of the corporate areas, VIP entrance and Eastern side main concourse. Rigitone strikes a balance between aesthetics and functionality, offering exceptional acoustic performance while delivering a visually appealing, perforated pattern.

Some rooms required curved ceilings – and for this, Gyprock’s premium Flexible plasterboard was ideal. It enables specifiers to create curved walls and ceilings through an enhanced gypsum core which is designed to bend, enabling convex curves with a 250mm radius and concave curves with a 450mm radius.

In certain areas, the attachment of FF&E added significant loads to the walls, with hardware weighing up to 65 kg being attached to 5.7m high walls. The seismic load, combined with the added weight, exceeded the standard wind load forces. Rondo’s engineers designed security room steel stud walls capable of meeting the higher load requirements to ensure compliance with seismic regulations.

The complexity of this project highlights just how important it is to work with experienced teams who are adept at designing customised, innovative solutions to meet the specifics of any given application. By virtue of their expertise, combined with premium-quality products, the teams at both Rondo and Gyprock were able to manage this complexity to deliver this project to the highest standard, on time and under budget.