Olympic Park

Sydney's Olympic Park is located at the crossroads between a mangrove and mudflat zone on the one hand and the wider landscape that historically consisted of Eucalyptus forest on the other. The Stadia Precinct is more conventionally understood to be one of nine precincts, each with different qualities, within Sydney's Olympic Park. Each piece is considered to be a separate 'destination'.

Together with an international team, Karres en Brands designed the public space around the Olympic Stadium in Sydney – where the Summer Olympics were hosted in 2000. The assignment calls for a new public space that takes into account the different logistical and security contexts in the stadium design as well as a parallel development project that interweaves private capital and public space. The complexity of this task was taken into account by the team and incorporated into a single answer that both brought together a complex site and brought back a landscape that had been erased by literally breaking open the ground and allowing the original landscape to come into being once again.
 

The proposal focuses on an authentic landscape experience around and in the area surrounding the stadium. Sport and green spaces can coexist and work together very well. The landscape strategy focuses on defining a living micro-ecosystem in which local biotopes are revealed and thrive. Nature and landscape are not simulated or ‘gardened’, instead they are integrated and layered. The paving around the stadium is based on the existing and historical pattern, but cracks occur in a number of locations and these reveal the local landscape. These openings, which vary in size, create unique conditions where lush vegetation can develop. The newly added layer of plants also creates a local microclimate, which improves the general cooling on location. 
 

The stadium area will draw in sports fans, concert organisers, and locals all year round. In addition to the sports fields within the stadium building, a number also exist around the stadium. This includes some small sports fields, integrated in a special way into the pavement, that can be used by children and adults to play and practice sports on days when there is no event. A smart, programmable lighting system increases interaction and allows people the option to adjust the settings for their activities.