Wanangkura Stadium

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: The Wanangkura Stadium is Port Hedland's new multi‐purpose recreational centre. The name for the centre means 'whirlwind' in the local Kariyarra language, and pays tribute to the centre's design, which architect Sophie Cleland likened to a cyclonic pattern, creating a 'shimmering, rippling effect on an otherwise flat landscape'. Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett called the Centre '... a spectacular piece of architecture that will become a landmark for Hedland'. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: ARM designed the building as a mirage; using a 'halftone' pixelated technique, the buildings entry facade acts as a clear visual image from long distances, whilst being highly agitated on closer inspection. The building looks different depending on the weather and the time of day: sometimes it blends with the sky, sometimes it stands out against the red dust. Despite the restrictions of location, climate and budget, ARM managed to create an 'iconic' building with lateral thinking and innovation. The Stadium is an important litmus test for the basic value of civic architecture and how to design for, and with, the local condition. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: This project received the prestigious Victorian Architecture Medal at the 2015 Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) VIC Chapter Awards. It featured in: the Autumn 2016 issue of 'The Architect' (the official journal of the AIA WA Chapter); Architecture Australia, Architectural Review Asia Pacific (cover story); ArchDaily; and designboom, amongst others. This project demonstrates the significance of ARM's practice which, in 2016, was awarded the Gold Medal - the highest award of the AIA to recognise distinguished service by Australian architects. According to Naomi Stead, few practices in the country could claim such a commitment to ideas in architecture - to speculation and proposition, to criticism and argument, to a swarming multitude of concepts in every design.