The Project
The new State Basketball Centre constructed at the Royal Adelaide Showground in Wayville is a major win for the South Australian Basketball community. The $17.2 million expansion provides a home to Adelaide Lightning, Country Basketball SA, SA Wheelchair Basketball, and SA Church Basketball.
The facility features four new basketball courts, including a Tier 1 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) court capable of hosting 1,600 spectators, along with offices and allied health facilities.
Technical Solutions
WGA was appointed to provide civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering services for the State Basketball Centre project. A key design driver was the requirement for a large, column free playing area. To achieve this, our structural team developed an open web steel roof truss system spanning 36 metres, delivering significant efficiencies in both materials and cost. The solution reduced structural steel tonnage by approximately 25%, while the use of lapped Supazed purlins achieved a further 15% material saving over conventional systems.
The project presented notable challenges, with the geotechnical profile of the site founded on extremely reactive soils. This was not suitable for the required flat nature of the Level T1 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball court; therefore, WGA developed a sub structure solution involving the removal of the top 1.0m and replacement of highly desiccated soils. This enabled the use of a slab-on-ground construction without the expense associated with a suspended slab-on-ground construction. A fibre-reinforced concrete slab solution was adopted which reduced the slab thickness from a conventionally reinforced solution and significantly increased the slab spacing between joints, thereby reducing total lineal metres of joints by almost 500m.
Civil design works also addressed flood risk management, with WGA identifying early that the proposed floor levels were vulnerable during a 1 in 100 year flood event. Liaising closely with the City of Unley, we were able to adjust the design to mitigate this potential issue whilst integrating the surrounding footpath and facility with the neighbouring buildings to achieve accessibility compliance.
Client Focus
Completed in October 2022, the State Basketball Centre delivers a high performance, resilient sporting facility that balances technical precision with long term value. Designed to support elite competition and grassroots participation alike, the centre strengthens Adelaide’s position as a destination for national and international basketball events.
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