News
One of the biggest sports projects in Asia, the Nanjing Sports Park, opens this week (12th October, 2005) designed by the international sports architecture firm, HOK Sport, from its Asian headquarters in Brisbane.
The Nanjing Sports Park, in the ancient Chinese capital, is the host for the 10th China National games and is being used as a showcase to the world by the Chinese Government in the lead up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
It is the culmination of five years work in China from its Australian office for HOK Sport, the specialist sports architecture firm, whose projects include design for most major stadia in Australia as well as Wembley Stadium and Emirates Stadium (for Arsenal FC) stadia in London.
Developing a foothold in the highly competitive Chinese market has required patience and persistence as well as excellence in quality, according to HOK Sport Senior Principal, Paul Henry,
“But the Chinese recognize they need international expertise as their markets open up to the rest of the world,” he said.
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The Nanjing Sports Complex includes:
- 60,000 seat stadium
- 11,000 seat indoor arena
- Olympic standard aquatic centre
- Olympic standard 20-court tennis centre
- Outdoor facilities for hockey, baseball and basketball
- Dedicated media centre with state-of-the-art facilities
The complex forms the centerpiece of a new downtown precinct development to the West of Nanjing. The integration of the sports complex into the new Downtown illustrates the significance of sport as the catalyst for urban development.
The project was won from the Brisbane office of HOK Sport in a design competition involving 40 international practices.
“In terms of scale and quality of facilities, the Nanjing Sports Park, worth RMB 2.3 billion, is one of the world’s premier master plans for modern sports complexes. The Chinese have paid particular attention to the detail of every one of the sports buildings,” said Mr Henry.
This is a strategically important project as China continues its development as a global citizen and we see the emergence of Chinese sport onto the world stage,” he said.
For further information please contact
Michele Fleming at HOK Sport (Brisbane)
Telephone +61 (0)7 3839 9155
Facsimile +61 (0)7 3839 9188
Email media@hok.com.au
This article appeared in FuturArc Magazine.