A consortium led by Laing O’Rourke and Aecom has been named delivery partner for the A$7.1bn (US$4.7bn) Brisbane 2032 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games build-out.
The “Unite32” consortium will be responsible for 17 new and upgraded venues in the state of Queensland in locations ranging from the Gold Coast south of Brisbane all the way up to Cairns, some 1,760km to the north on Australia’s eastern seabord.
The client is the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA), a Queensland Government statutory authority.
Centrepiece venues will be the new, 63,0000-seat Brisbane Stadium, set to host the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics, thereafter to be the city’s main stadium, and the National Aquatic Centre, which will be Australia’s headquarters for water sports after the Games with a permanent capacity of 8,000 seats and 25,000 during the tournament.
GIICA started looking for principal architects for these two venues in September.
Overhauling Victoria Park
They and the Athletes’ Village – set to house 10,000 athletes during the Olympics and 5,000 during the Paralympics, and to be housing after the Games – will go up in Brisbane’s Victoria Park Precinct.
GIICA appointed UK-headquartered Arup as the principal contractor for the Victoria Park Master Plan in September as well.
Infrastructure plan
On top of the venue upgrades, Queensland will get a A$12.4bn investment in transport infrastructure, including upgrades to the Bruce Highway (the coast road from Brisbane to Cairns), faster rail between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and stage one of the Direct Sunshine Coast Railway, from Beerwah to Caloundra.
Laing O’Rourke said it and Aecom formed the Unite32 consortium two years ago.
The pair worked together on the London 2012 Games.
“It is an honour and a privilege to be selected to work with the Queensland Government, GIICA and our joint venture partner Aecom to deliver one of the world’s most iconic events,” said Mark Dimmock, Laing O’Rourke Managing Director for Australia.
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