Tarratarra Stadium

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Spiire was engaged by Development Victoria and Warren and Mahoney Architects to support the delivery of Tarratarra Stadium, a landmark multi-sports facility in Armstrong Creek.

Services

Civil Engineering Construction Consultancy Landscape Architecture Surveying and Spatial

Client

Development Victoria and Warren and Mahoney Architects

Location

Geelong, VIC

Exterior of Spiire Geelong project Tarratarra Stadium

Signage and seating at spiire geelong project tarratarra stadium

Tarratarra Stadium is a new purpose-built multi-sport facility within the City of Greater Geelong.

The purpose-built venue includes four indoor multi-sport courts, a civic plaza with outdoor activation spaces and open areas, a café and gathering space and car parking with electric vehicle charging stations.

Located at the eastern end of the Armstrong Creek Town Centre, the facility will deliver lasting social, environmental and economic benefits for the region, improving amenity, recreation, accessibility, habitat and connection to Country.

Warren and Mahoney Architects engaged Spiire’s Landscape Architecture team as a subconsultant to shape the public realm of the new precinct. Working closely with the wider design team, the character, tone and aspirations for the dedicated civic space was developed by Spiire, supporting the broader vision for the Armstrong Creek Town Centre.

Our team prepared the landscape masterplan and detailed design documentation and provided construction-phase services for the public realm. The result was a diverse mix of high-quality, active and flexible-use spaces for centre users and the wider community to enjoy, providing a complementary setting that grounds the built form designed by Warren and Mahoney.

Early collaboration with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation ensured Wadawurrung culture, stories and identity were embedded within the landscape and informed the design outcome from the outset.

Close coordination with the projects’ civil engineering consultant regarding traffic flow, pedestrian movement, topography, irrigation, and drainage, also ensured accessibility, sustainability and inclusivity requirements were integrated in the design from the planning stages.

The result is a welcoming and accessible place that guides pedestrians safely and efficiently through the facility, while providing intimate spaces for activity, recreation, play, learning, and respite.

Supporting a 5-Star Green Star rating

In alignment with the City of Greater Geelong’s Environment Strategy 2020-2030, Tarratarra Stadium will achieve a 5-Star Green Star rating, offering future generations of Armstrong Creek an inspiring place to be active, energised and engaged with the deep cultural heritage of the area.

To support the project’s commitment to respecting and caring for Country, our Landscape Architecture team worked with an external, environmentally sustainable design consultant (ESD) to integrate sustainability initiatives throughout the design from the outset.

Initiatives included using reflective hard surfaces to improve heat resilience, low-carbon concrete to reduce emissions, climate-resilient planting to reduce potable water use, a diverse mix of plant species, genus and families; and large nesting trees to enhance biodiversity and habitat.

Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) further reduced environmental impacts. Working with the broader design team and civil engineering consultant, our landscape architects incorporated rain gardens, local planting typologies, and strategic grading and contouring to capture, absorb, clean and convey stormwater naturally. This integrated approach delivered critical service connections without compromising the original design intent.

Together, these initiatives created a resilient, attractive landscape that exceeded the minimum requirements for the targeted rating.

Connecting to Country

Developed through collaborative workshops with Development Victoria, the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) and the City of Greater Geelong, the landscape design is guided by the principles of ‘healing Country’, ‘connection to Country’, ‘landscape for all’ and ‘a learning landscape’. Together, these principles give the public realm a distinctive identity grounded in place and shaped by universal accessibility.

The name Tarratarra – gifted to the Stadium by WTOAC – means “many wings” and draws inspiration from the River Red Gum Ghost Moth, a species frequently seen throughout the area. Water also provides a common narrative across the precinct’s distinct spaces, reflecting Wadawurrung connections to the ocean, creeks, rivers and waterholes of the Geelong region.

Our landscape designers drew on landform, geology, planting and spatial arrangements to evoke the journey of water from the inland hills to the bay, creating opportunities for storytelling, play, water treatment and harvesting, while reinforcing a distinctive identity throughout the landscape.

The narrative is expressed in a variety of ways throughout the precinct. Pedestrian paths reflect the movement of water across the landscape and the traditional ‘songlines’ that followed these routes, while path edges evoke the banks of Armstrong Creek. Indigenous fauna footprints are stencilled into the pavement, and beneath the architectural marker representing a lone River Red Gum, customised leaf motifs and kinetic leaf sculptures create opportunities for informal play and gathering. Water-play areas, swale gardens, climbing elements, boulders, mounding and intimate gathering spaces further reinforce the narrative, while planting reflects the transition from coastal to inland landscapes.

The benefits of local knowledge

Development Victoria separately engaged Spiire’s Civil Engineering and Surveying and Spatial teams to design and document specific service connections for the precinct. Our local knowledge of the adjoining Armstrong Creek Town Centre, together with our Barwon Water accreditations, helped the team anticipate constraints and coordinate delivery efficiently.

Our surveyors worked closely with the client and Council to establish public road access through public acquisition legislation. Achieving this outcome required extensive negotiation with multiple landowners and authorities, while maintaining a timely and cost-effective approach.

To deliver the critical Barwon Water services for the site, our surveyors completed the feature and level survey and asset recording, working closely with the local water authority and our civil team to prepare detailed designs for the Trunk Water and Trunk Sewer. Using our established site knowledge and in-house accreditations, our specialists coordinated multiple service providers to centralise design updates, test solutions, and develop an integrated, fit-for-purpose design to achieve statement of compliance.

Our Civil Engineering team worked with the client and the City of Greater Geelong to deliver the detailed design for a large drainage outfall for the stadium, which was dependent on the Town Centre’s drainage infrastructure being built first.

Fortunately, Spiire’s earlier work on the Armstrong Creek Town Centre PSP meant our Civil and Integrated Water Engineering teams had already developed the stormwater strategy and drainage outfall for the town, giving them a detailed understanding of the project’s constraints and requirements, allowing the team to progress the project faster and more efficiently, delivering detailed designs ahead of schedule.