The La Trobe University Sports Stadium, is an Australian-first. Generating more energy on site than it uses – making it net positive – it is the first sports building in Australia to be awarded the highest rating for both the design and build by the Green Building Council of Australia. This was achieved through an integrated strategy covering building material performance, natural ventilation, sustainable energy generation, water storage and reuse, and building management and operational strategies.

The Stadium is the embodiment of the university’s commitment to making a substantial contribution to the ongoing sustainability of the Australian sport industry and the welfare of all its participants from grassroots to elite athletes. As a centralised facility, the Sports Park offers high ball sports courts, high performance assessment and testing laboratories, teaching spaces and sports management tenancies. Breaking down barriers between industry and the student experience, the stadium provides facilities for grass root community sport and in return creates a pathway to connect the community and university life.

The stadium is designed with a vast high-spec photovoltaic array on the roof that amounts to over 519kW and generates around 724,000 kWh per year. This is more than enough to meet the stadium’s electrical demand, so surplus renewable energy is fed back into the rest of the campus. The first major piece of La Trobe’s bold ‘University City of the Future’ plan, the stadium and surrounding park will help it achieve its Net Zero strategy for a net positive operation.

The La Trobe Sports Park Stadium contributes to the experience of student life by placing sport, health and wellbeing at the forefront of student experience. The Sports Park Stadium is an easily accessible place for students, staff and the community to be healthy and active.

Photography by Derek Swalwell.