A rendering of Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia.
Rod Laver Arena has been Melbourne’s premiere venue since 1988. But after 30 years of hosting the Australian Open and thousands of other events, it was time for a facelift. And now, as part of the $700-million Melbourne Park Redevelopment project, the 15,000-seat arena known for its signature retractable roof and singer Pink’s record-setting 2013 18-concert stand is prepping for a major upgrade.
“We’re doing this now really for two reasons,” explained Brian Morris, CEO Melbourne & Olympic Parks. “We extended the contract with the Australian Open until 2036 and part of that agreement was to improve the facilities at Center Court, which is Rod Laver Arena.”
The second reason was that for the other 11 months of the year when the Open is not monopolizing the arena, Rod Laver Arena is the city’s main concert venue and, in order to stay one of the top buildings in the world, some major changes were needed.
When the building opened its rigging capacity was a then-robust 49 tons (at a time when Morris said the average show hung 29 tons). As part of the upgrade, the rigging capacity will be up to 100 tons unsupported, which will enable the venue to deal with any major current touring event (which he said average around 60-70 tons) without using ground support.
“When we have to use ground support we have visibility problems and it reduces the size of the arena, so without it we can increase sight lines and have more available seats,” he said. Morris predicted floor space will increase by around 20 percent (or 400 people) and a potential 600 more seats in the main bowl.
With construction set to begin in February 2016 and wrap up in 2020, patrons might hardly recognize the place when work is done on the first major upgrade of facilities since the arena opened. In addition to a new pedestrian bridge linking Melbourne Park and nearby Birrarung Marr Park, there will be a new eastern annex that will become the main public entrance to the arena and a variety of new concessions throughout, including on floor level so patrons can have easier access to food and beverage during shows.
Morris said two main upgrades to the customer experience will unfold outside of the performance space. When Laver Arena was built, external concourses were typically narrower and food and beverage were sometimes an afterthought, he said. So, despite “tremendous” upgrades over the years, Morris’ team ran out of existing space to grow.
“We’re expanding the concourses and vastly expanding catering food and beverage and lounge spaces,” he said. “In addition we’re adding three pods on the Eastern side of the arena that are essentially a 4-story building.”
The first floor will include improved retail, catering and merchandising, with the next two floors dedicated to private lounges, VIP and sponsor spaces. The south end will feature two additional pads with more food court and sit-down experiences.
“What makes Laver unique is that unlike other Grand Slam venues this one is doing entertainment and sport, where the others are just doing tennis,” said Patrick Ness, Design Director at Cox Architecture. “Whatever design work we do there needs to understand that it’s a very hard-working venue, so the new elements are really augmenting the fan experience whether they’re there for tennis or entertainment.”
The original was one of the first venues in Melbourne with a moving roof, so Ness said the pods were designed with the intent of keeping the classic look of the original building while blending in the more contemporary feel of the additions.
“Because we’re cloaking the original building with new facilities we wanted to make sure the history of the original building was there,” he said. “The original building is circular and curved with no hard angles – even the roof trusses are curved – and the new pods needed to fit in with the form of the existing building, so we took the curves of the original building and smoothed them out to create these pods.”
Morris is confident that the new concessions and suite areas will add 20 percent or so to the average spend per patron, as it’s likely to decrease lines for food and drink and bring in a number of patrons who might have otherwise chosen to go to one of the many bars and restaurants in the surrounding downtown area.
“We’re hoping it will facilitate people coming sooner and leaving later,” he said. Other comfort upgrades include enhanced public WIFI and TV monitors around the concourses.
Among the other changes: upgraded bathrooms with more toilets, baby changing stations and access for people with disabilities, as well as increased disability access – including universal access to the seating bowl – and a number of back-of-house improvement that will pave the way for bigger productions to visit.
A larger loading bay will decrease setup time and allow for more productions, and increased rigging capacity will also make way for promoters to bring in bigger and better shows.
When Laver was built it backed up to a rail yard, with both the main entrance and loading docks in the same place. By moving the main entrance to the east, the southern end will now be dedicated to loading shows, which will increase the amount of truck movement while patrons are entering and exiting, perhaps saving up to two crucial hours on loadouts.
Ness said one challenge was designing around the moving roof – made with light materials – while upping the rigging capacity. That meant upgrading the structure of the non-sliding part of the roof to add the capacity without impacting its integrity and functionality.
Four contractors have been selected for the project: Brookfield Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd, Built Pty Ltd, Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, and Lend Lease Building Contractors Pty Ltd. Construction contracts are to be awarded in October, with work beginning following February’s Australian Open.
The facility will remain open during the entire process, with upgraded areas opened progressively over the four-year construction period. While the changes will increase capacity for concerts, the Australian Open capacity will remain the same.
Patrons won’t notice it, but a major change in back of house will combine artists green rooms, changing rooms and production offices with VIP and player change rooms for the Open (which could accommodate up to 1,000 people simultaneously). “We will have the biggest back-of-house area probably of any venue in the world,” Morris said.
The Laver upgrade is part of the $338-million second stage of the Melbourne Park project, which will also include another new pedestrian bridge that will open access from the heart of downtown Melbourne and Melbourne Park and an 8-story media building that will house media and broadcast facilities for the Australian Open and house staff from Melbourne & Olympic Parks and Tennis Australia.
While Morris doesn’t think Laver Arena was missing any shows because it lacked any of the above, he said the upgrades eliminating ground support will make Laver a more appealing environment to bring shows into for promoters. “The other benefit is we can do more shows in a run because it’s not costing as much to operate in a reduced mode at the end of a run,” he said.
One of the things patrons will notice the most when the upgrades are completed are the unique look and feel of each event. “Design time, budget and technology are going into this so we can configure it for each event,” Ness said. “So when it’s a tennis Grand Slam there will be a certain color and image, but when it’s a Katy Perry show we can change all the colors and graphics so that it’s purely set up for that event. It will be her building.”
And, for a building that already houses everything from swimming to ice hockey, monster trucks and Nitro Circus, Morris said it’s possible the upgrades will draw bookings from the National Hockey League and/or National Basketball Association. “It’s possible and, if it happens, that’s the cherry on top.”
Contacted for this story: Brian Morris, 61-3-9286-1600; Patrick Ness, 61-3-9650-3288