Melbourne Grand Prix Facilities

Melbourne ‘steels’ the Grand Prix

When Melbourne won the right to stage the Grand Prix, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and their Project Manager, Kinhill, had the task of building the track and associated facilities within a very tight time frame.

Initially a choice had to be made between building new control and pit buildings or reusing the modular buildings from the Adelaide Grand Prix. The architects, Bates Smart, were faced with the challenge of designing new buildings cheaper than the costs associated with reusing the buildings from Adelaide. As the Adelaide buildings were modular, they would have required about four months to assemble and then remove after the event. 

Steel emerged as the natural material choice for the buildings as it produces light buildings with fine details and, given the tight deadline, the benefit of steel’s inherent speed of construction.