It may not be a surprise they hold these views - they
did, after all, design the Forsyth Barr Stadium - but Richard
Breslin and Marko den Breems think the building near
Dunedin's waterfront is a winner. David Loughrey talks to the
two men who took the stadium from an idea to a
reality.
"This is about as good as it gets," Richard Breslin said, as
he watched what had once been design drawings rise from the
rubble of the former industrial area at Awatea St.
"One of the amazing things about this building, from across
the whole world, it's the first there's been a fixed roof
over a natural pitch.
"It gives a huge amount of functionality.
"It will change the way stadiums are seen in future."
Worldwide, stadiums attract the same kind of controversy that
has dogged the Dunedin example, with public funding of
facilities worth hundreds of millions of dollars often
unpopular with the ratepayers or taxpayers, who end up
footing the bill.
Also overseas, it is not uncommon for stadiums to be sold as
"multi-use", or "multipurpose" as those public funds are
sought, something pushed strongly in Dunedin during the
planning process.
Asked why it was any better than any other indoor venue in
Dunedin, Mr Breslin highlighted the economic aspect,
something he said was "an essential part of the design
process".
"The commercial viability of the stadium has always been of
utmost importance.
"Simply put, the stadium has to generate as much revenue as
possible.
"This is a standard requirement these days for all stadia and
certainly not unique to Dunedin."
Explaining the thinking behind the design, Mr Breslin said
there were two sides to the stadium issue, "the sporting side
of things", or what happened on the grass pitch, and the
space for functions, or whatever else the building was used
for.
The client, the Carisbrook Stadium Trust, had been "very
clear from the start it was not a sporting building, not
[just] a rugby venue".
It needed to be able to cater for functions, conferences and
other activities.
"We did a huge number of overlays looking at other uses -
operating as a sporting venue is just one of those uses."
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.