Stadium Australia: for 2000 Olympics

Sydney's successful bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games has resulted in a spectacular Olympic stadium which forms the centre-piece of a coordinated suite of venues. The stadium will provide 115 000 seats during the 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, and a post-games capacity of 80 000. At a cost of A$463 million, the stadium will have a greater seating capacity than any other Olympic stadium ever built. The selection of the development consortium was based on many factors including an inspired financial and operational plan but, above all, a powerful design statement. The stadium will become the model for the next generation of international stadia, its flexible structure allowing multiple sports usage and integrated mass communications. In a subject matter as vast as this, this paper seeks only to present highlights of the structural design aspects; and in particular the inspirational roof of the Olympic stadium, in the context of a fast-track programme which achieved a grand opening in March 1999, some 18 months before the 2000 Olympics.