Bankwest Stadium is part of the NSW Government’s $1.6 billion stadia strategy to improve sporting infrastructure across the state. Home to the Parramatta Eels and Western Sydney Wanderers, the stadium is an important tourism and entertainment icon in the growing Western Sydney hub of Parramatta.

The stadium design needed was focused on perfecting the ticket holder experience across all kind of events from sport to music, and maximising corporate opportunities to boost the NSW economy.

This meant that Bankwests’ fire strategy needed to flex and bend with the needs of the each event being held, accommodating concert-goers, soccer fans and footy fanatics alike – all the while being simple and maintainable by the large facility and event management teams.

What we did differently

We looked at best model practices across the globe, an egress strategy was developed to ensure occupants were able to evacuate the building safely and simply in case of an emergency.

We also developed a comprehensive smoke exhaust strategy for the Western Side of the stadium and ran Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to test the fire safety design and egress strategy for maximum safety outcomes.

All in all, we worked closely with design team, architects and FRNSW to progress through the project, from delivery to OC – handing over a safe, simple and flexible design that will keep millions of patrons and staff safe every year.