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Architectural Review, The, Oct, 2000 by Sheila Hughes

Informed by simple rural vernacular buildings, Sydney's Equestrian Centre forms part of a new regional park.

Sydney's new Equestrian Centre will cater for events in dressage, cross country and show jumping. Set in 90 hectares of native and regenerated bushland planted with gums, wattles and paperbark, it also forms an important element in a larger regional park to the west of the city. This semi-rural area is gradually being encroached on by suburban development and the new park brings back into community use redundant areas of woodlands and vegetation formerly given over to farming. The landscape around the centre provides 13km of endurance tracks and tracks for cross-country riding.

Fittingly for a sport with strong rural origins, the two principal buildings take their cues from the simple, expressive functionalism of Australian vernacular farm structures. The stables, which will house up to 340 horses during the Games, are enclosed by two hovering roof planes, stepped and ventilated against the heat. The main indoor training arena, is also defined by its roof. The gentle swell of the great curved plane of corrugated steel mimics the undulations of the landscape.

The provision of natural light and cross ventilation was a prime consideration. The roof is spanned by a series of curved trusses supporting secondary cleated frames that allow the roof plane to sit back from the upper chord of the truss. So the roof is a kind of mutated barrel vault; its northern (sun-facing) section steps down to form a series of slot-like rooflights. This technique of transmitting light through a big shed has a long history in Australian rural building. Stables and arena are set on intersecting axes lined by training and exercise fields for the horses. There is also temporary accommodation for 260 grooms together with veterinary and support staff.

As with all the Olympic buildings and sites, a green approach prevails. Gabion walls are used extensively as a means of connecting the buildings to the site. Rainwater is directed to a series of dams for animal watering and landscape nurturing. Water quality is maintained and the potential for flood damage minimized by a series of settling ponds and an integrated stormwater drainage and wetland filtration system. Habitats of threatened species were identified and protected during construction. The recognition and preservation of significant Aboriginal sites was also vital in helping to reconstitute a sense of place.

Architect

Equus 2000 Architects, Sydney (Joint venture between Scott Carver. Timothy Court & Co and SJPH Design Partnership)

Civil engineer

Kinhill

Landscape architect

Edaw

Environmental consultant

Manidis Roberts

Photographs

Paul Raftery