The refurbishment of the Reg Bartley Oval Grandstand required restoration of the existing grandstand and the construction of new public amenities and ground staff facilities. The brief included demolition of three buildings that surrounded and attached to the grandstand, cutting it off from the street and parkland behind.
In order to minimize the impact of the new additions, they are placed directly behind the grandstand and divided into 3 smaller buildings instead of one building, reducing overall bulk and scale. The new buildings are set off the grandstand with a passageway between them. Connection between the new and the old is on the first floor via a steel mesh walkway that lightly bridges the four buildings allowing light to filter below. The new ancillary buildings are clad in the same weatherboard profile as the grandstand and with the height of the new buildings aligning with that of the grandstand they echo the scale and expression of the grandstand. The cladding is routed with a flower pattern animating the façade and allowing light and air to pass through the skin into the building.
The kiosk is situated adjacent to the tennis courts next to the oval with views to the bay. Modest in scale, it consists of two equal interlocking rectangular forms which divide the building into kitchen/store/bathroom and internal cafe seating area. A generous timber deck surrounds the building providing space for outdoor seating. The kiosk is clad in vertical timber weatherboards that are routed with the same flower pattern used on the Grandstand’s new Ancillary Buildings, thereby linking the two projects within the park. The deck is shaded by a pergola of slender steel columns and stainless steel mesh supporting a range of different species of climbing vines. This parterre in the air allows the new building to recede into the surrounding parkland. Three palm trees punctuate the deck and pergola playfully marking the building’s location from across the park.
The project also included reconfigured tennis courts and new parkland plantings and pathways.