Football club with sustainable design

Completed in 2015, Port Melbourne Football Club Sporting and Community Facility, in Victoria, was awarded Sustainability category winner at the 2015 National Australian Timber Design Awards. k20 Architecture delivered the project, including materials and labour, to promote locally sourced and manufactured materials.

Sustainably sourced timber, with a high carbon sink, was used in the design to provide a cost-effective outcome. Standard, off-the-shelf and locally sourced timber materials and timber components were procured and k20 also ensured that local labour was commissioned to skilfully assemble and construct the building.

The location of the building was identified, based on k20 Architecture’s requirement, to retain all healthy trees. Council’s arborists assessed the site to ensure no healthy trees were removed during the construction process and assisted to identify which trees could be removed while work progressed within the tree protection zone.

Low-grade contaminated soil on the site was re-used and re-blended to meet clean-fill status.

The soil was relocated to other parts of the site, thereby diverting landfill impacts concurrently reducing the associated costs of relocating the soil.

The building included low-energy light fittings, sustainable plywood linings and extensive use of plywood in place of plasterboard, with the use of plasterboard limited to the administration offices. Further ESD initiatives included incorporating underground rainwater tanks for toilet cisterns and landscape irrigation, solar hot water units, exhaust systems with makeup air, low energy and high-performing mechanical supply air conditioning systems.

The building is also highly insulated, exceeding minimum standards, and includes double-glazed thermally broken glazing systems.

The design solution around this high efficiency rate included the use of an open trussed ceiling, open ceiling grid system incorporating customised lighting using off-the-shelf items, perforated metal feature panels that double as acoustic treatments and material selection preferences locally made from readily available building materials. Sustainably sourced material selections included modular carpet tiles with 90% post-consumer content backing, certified by CRI Green Label Plus. Engineered timber flooring with low maintenance and low VOC coating suited to chemical-free cleaners were also adopted.

Situated on the northern corner of the North Port Oval, the pavilion was designed to provide new headquarters for the 129-year-old Port Melbourne Football Club. The project was jointly funded by the Australian Football League (AFL), AFL Victoria and Sports & Recreation Victoria and was delivered within a tightly controlled fixed budget. The construction efficiency rate was achieved via a value managed design process, which in turn required a high level of design innovation.

The design concept was to create a building reflective of its surroundings. The form of the building echoes the raw industrial context of the vernacular seen in the local context of Port Melbourne. This is also reflected in the materiality as the exterior is made up of a minimal palette of timber and glass. The ‘V’ form that appears on the East and South elevations was adopted as a subtle reference to the building’s purpose as home to VFL and its form was used to enable the building to lift and rise to secure view lines through the building to connect people with the game.

The building provides universal access and a new street presence to the sporting precinct via an accessible timber-clad pathway that connects with the pavilion entry.

The building itself is made up of two parts connected by a pathway that delivers and connects visitors through the building to the sporting precinct beyond. The rear part of the pavilion reflects the industrious nature of its interior program — amenities, kitchen, stores and cool rooms. Since the completion of the Port Melbourne Football Club Sporting and Community Facility there have been many positive social, economic and environmental benefits for PMFC and its community. The future is bright with the hope that this important piece of architecture will support the longevity of the club and inspire future generations to incorporate the highest in sustainable design initiatives.