Wanangkura Stadium is a significant destination for major sports and social gatherings for the local community and fly-in fly-out workers and will provide a state of the art facility which incorporates a new indoor playing court, a gym, squash courts, club rooms for local football teams, short term childcare minding and function rooms. The project site is located at the Kevin Scott Oval on the fringe of South Hedland’s flood plain.
The name for the Centre was chosen from hundreds of local submissions and means 'whirlwind' in the local Kariyarra language. The title pays tribute to the centre's design, which architect Sophie Cleland likened to a cyclonic pattern, creating a 'shimmering, rippling effect on an otherwise flat landscape'. The building design represents the local climate in the form and cladding pattern. Cyclones, intense weather patterns and heat distortion have been used to generate the façade creating an iconic place for the Hedland community.
Our approach to the design considered this building as a mirage – a shimmering, rippling effect on an otherwise flat landscape. Using a ‘halftone’ pixelated technique, the building’s entry facade acts as a clear visual image from long distances, whilst being highly aggregated on closer inspection.
