Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia

Client: Major Projects Victoria

Architect: Cox Architects

About the project

Rod Laver Arena was originally completed and opened in 1988 in time for the 1988 Australian Open. It was developed primarily for tennis as part of the National Tennis Centre development to replace the existing Kooyong venue. When not used for tennis, the centre serves as a multipurpose arena with the capacity to feature international sporting, entertainment and music events.

Current work on the Rod Laver Arena Refurbishment includes a new eastern-facing primary entrance, which also provides food and beverage facilities, an expanded public concourse space, accessible entrances to the seating bowl and significant back-of-house improvements, including upgrading of player and artist facilities to ensure that Rod Laver Arena continues to host the best events in Australia across all modes of operation.

A key challenge was to implement all refurbishment works while the venue remained fully operational, including through four Australian Open tennis tournaments during the construction period.