'Up and Under' roof scores for Queensland home of Rugby League

Location:	Brisbane, Queensland
Country:	Australia
Project Size:	A$280 million
Architect:	HOK Sport + Venue + Event and PDT Architects
Engineer:	Ove Arup and Partners
Builder:	Multiplex Constructions and Watpak
Products Used:	LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB® LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH®

An 'Up and Under' is a high kick that has won many a football match. An innovative new 'Up and Under' roof construction technique for the massive new grandstands at Queensland's home of Rugby League is also a winner.

The new A$280 million Suncorp Stadium redevelopment, formerly known as Lang Park, will transform the comfort of spectators for Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer, when completed early in June this year. Making a change from the past, all spectators will now be comfortably and individually seated, with 75 per cent of all seats given protection from the sun and weather by being undercover.

Covering some 40,000 seats of the expanded 52,500 seat capacity stadium, the massive 23,000 square metres of grandstand roof required some innovative thinking to reduce costs and enhance safety during construction.

Architects HOK Sport + Venue + Event and PDT Architects in conjunction with structural engineer, Ove Arup and Partners, came up with an innovative roof design.

The principle adopted is to assemble the purlins and soffit linings in panels on the ground (under), then lift each section by crane into position (up). Hence, the catch phrase for this operation, suiting a football stadium, of 'Up and Under'. The reality is in fact "Under and Up'.

This innovative approach to assembling the massive roof improved the procurement and safety of construction. Due to the roof fixers working at ground level, the need for scaffolding was eliminated, which proved to be both time and cost effective over conventional roof fixing.

Contributing to the efficiency of this project is the newly released, LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® patented roof decking profile from BlueScope Lysaght. Due to its unique profile, LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® incorporates transverse micro-flutes in the pan, adding to the robustness of the high-strength steel. This outstanding new LYSAGHT® product enables long spans, and extremely long runs. The combination of the attractive micro fluting and the robust wide ribs, provides an elegant, state of the art roof cladding system, appropriate for the high profile of this major new sporting icon.

The key benefit of this new roofing profile is its fixing method. A fixing clip is simply secured to the steel or timber supports and the LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® sheets are laid directly on to the clips. With no exposed fasteners, the sheets provide a clean, smooth finish to the roof.

Another LYSAGHT® product, some 23,000 square metres of specially made perforated LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB® was also used for acoustic insulation on the underside of the roof, providing a modern, clean appearance as well as functionality.

David Ghannoum, Construction Manager for the Multiplex/Watpac joint venture, said: "We are very pleased with the safety aspect of the novel 'Up and Under' erection of the huge roof panels. Equally, it made sense to use the site cranage to lift these panels 40 metres up from ground level into position, rather than have roof fixers up there. This methodology greatly reduced the erection time."

Ghannoum added: "We went from 0.42 milimetres to 0.48 milimetres BMT for the roof decking to optimise the roof construction. The thicker base sheet allowed us greater spans and reduced the number of fixings, saving time and cost.

"The thicker base also gave us a very strong roof deck. This is important for wind uplift and the safety of personnel during installation."

Commenting on the decision to install the LYSAGHT® product, architect David Johnston, of HOK Sport + Venue + Event said: "We wanted a strong appearance for the grandstand roof with long uninterrupted runs of roofing sheets."

The LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® met the pragmatic requirements of the architects and is now a key element in the overall attractiveness of the stadium.

Download 'Up and Under' Roof Scores for Queensland Home of Rugby League (158 KB)