History in action

Artefact was contracted by John Holland to provide a Heritage Interpretation Plan for the new state-of-the art Sydney Football Stadium, known as Allianz Stadium, in Moore Park.

The challenge was to bring local heritage, sporting histories and Aboriginal histories together on the one site in a way that made sense to visitors. 

OUR
SOLUTION

The project needed to highlight a mix of the local heritage, sporting histories and Aboriginal histories of the site, presented in a way that the public could enjoy incidentally as part of their experience going to the stadium.

The interpretation themes we developed included History in Action exploring how the 1811 ‘Sydney Common’ evolved into the modern-day stadium as well as a focus on key sporting events/sportspersons at the site, and Busby’s Bore, highlighting the fact that the stadium was built above an important fresh-water supply for early Sydney.

Artefact developed concepts for interpretive media and detailed content that was used on pylons, seating inserts, paving inlays, well shaft covers, fence lines and sculptures. A key heritage item, the path of Busby’s Bore underground tunnel, was marked in paving inlays across the site.

Artefact’s Heritage Interpretation Plan also proposed naming strategies based on historical connections such as Damun Place, Busby’s Corner and Sheridan Stairs, and recommended that the public art planned for the site have an Aboriginal cultural heritage focus – an approach that was adopted on seat patterns inside the stadium and also along fence lines.



SUCCESS

The integration of heritage interpretation experiences across the site feature as a value-add for people attending matches at the stadium.

Allianz Stadium have also included the in-situ heritage interpretation elements as part of their guided walking tour ‘Walk the Path of Champions’ and on their website, in order to celebrate the history of the site.


'Artefact was an integral part of the success of integrating local and Australian history into various design forms and providing stadium patrons with unique experiences. They were experienced, passionate and embraced the stadium design to achieve the desired outcomes for the project and people.'

- Luyu Pang, Former Design Manager, John Holland


In addition, Artefact also provided extensive heritage assessment and archaeological excavation work on the Sydney Football Stadium site. 


Download Project Sheet


The NSW Government invested $828 million for the rebuild of the Sydney Football Stadium with construction contracts going to John Holland, Lendlease and Cox Architects.

CONTACT

HOLIDAY CLOSE
Our offices will be closed from Monday 23 Dec 2024 and will re-open on Monday 6 Jan 2025.
For unexpected finds and urgent project enquiries, please contact our Heritage Manager Stephanie Moore at stephanie.moore@artefact.net.au or call 0420 403 581.
For all other enquires please contact our General Manager Martin Edmunds at martin.edmunds@artefact.net.au or call 0404 877 490.
We wish you a peaceful holiday break and look forward to working with you in 2025.

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