the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples
Queensland
Brisbane
The National Rugby Training Centre is a combined stadium and high performance centre, as well as the heart of community rugby for men and women in Queensland. Its architecture is designed to be inspiring for athletes and spectators without resort to overt embellishment. The facility’s functional performance is generated by shifting cross-sections along the length, maximising visual and physical connectivity between players, coaches, administrators and, unusually, the community – all part of reviving rugby and Ballymore, the traditional heartland of Australian rugby. Every aspect of the interior spatial atmospheres and layout was designed in collaboration with players (including First Nations players), coaches and staff to create a new level of performance, the centre now recognised nationally as the best in Australia. The building functions in natural ventilation mode most of the year. Its most unexpected success is its embrace by men’s and women’s community rugby ( see Architecture Australia May/June 2024).
The National Rugby Training Centre is not just a high performance centre. It is the beating heart of Australia’s spiritual home of Rugby – Ballymore. Blight Rayner has designed it to work effortlessly for multiple programs, genders and ages, as well as be an enticingly atmospheric stadium – it has completely revived Ballymore through design – remarkable for an extremely limited $31.5 million budget. It is the first in Australia to equate men’s with women’s rugby, and it has set the benchmark attracting visits from clubs and organisations around the country and internationally. It is an extraordinary achievement.
Michael Rayner, Project Architect
Ashneel Maharaj, Project Architect
Jeremy Woodridge, Graduate of Architecture
Rachel Levi, Graduate of Architecture
Adelaide Hampson, Design Architect
Kate Reilly, Designer
Sian Farrell, Designer
Akiko Spencer, Designer
Lauren Hickling, Interior Designer
Marnie Goodman, Design Architect
Ben Wilson, Design Architect
Arlyn Mangabat, Project Architect
Bronwyn Hart, Interior Designer
RPS, Project Manager
WSP, Structural, Mechanical, Hydraulic, Environmental, Electrical, Specialist Lighting, Acoustic, Civil & Fire Engineers.
RPS, Landscape Architect
RLB, Quantity Surveyor
RPS, Town Planner
McKenzie Group, Access Consultant
RPS, Building Surveyor
Andrew Uttley Architecture, Display Design
Bligh Tanner, Facade Engineer
FSDA, Food and Beverage Consultant
McKenzie Group, Certification Consultant
Sporteng, Specialist Field Engineer
TTM, WSP, Traffic & Transport
Blight Rayner, RPS, Urban Planner
Visualiii, Visualisation
Dotdash, Signage and Wayfinding
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
