SUNLITE® Roof, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia

Purpose-built in 1999 for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, ANZ Stadium has hosted thousands of sporting events in one of Australia’s most celebrated cities over the years. However, in addition to yellowing with age, the original roof covering experienced significant hail damage in 2015.

Charged with fully replacing the roof sheeting, the building team set out to find a resilient, long-lasting and comprehensive solution.

Fortunately, Palram’s SUNLITE 16mm X-lite Premium polycarbonate sheets fit the bill. Designed with an extra thick outer layer 2mm thick, in place of the nominal 0.6mm, a 25-year warranty boosted the project team’s confidence in the roof’s ability to withstand future hail storms. The material’s ultra-violet protection also prevents the sheets from yellowing and turning brittle, which is often a problem with low quality polycarbonate panels.

The UV-coated sheets also shield stadium patrons from harmful UV rays, the hot Australian sun and rain.

“The new polycarbonate being installed has been specifically designed for ANZ Stadium and with a slightly thicker top layer, which will ensure an increased life cycle and resistance to future hail storms,” relates Simon Davies, General Manager of Asset Management, ANZ Stadium.

The stadium owner, BVN Architects, Laing O’Rourke Builders and Arup Engineers were further impressed with Palram’s extensive history in suppling large scale, global projects with its durable, thermal insulating, light weight polycarbonate products. Ultimately, Palram’s detailed and expert examination of the damaged roof and proposed, custom-built solution was welcomed by the project team.

Taking out and replacing the old, damaged panels, one at a time, the new high-performance sheets were custom designed for optimal shading with three different translucencies of 22 percent, 30 percent and 60 percent.

“The sheets are a solar control grey color with the 60 percent clear material transparency positioned closest to the pitch to assist with enhanced light transmission and grass quality,” explains Davies. “If you are seated back further in the seating bowl, you will have less transparency above you, and greater protection from the elements.”

In addition to the PC sheets, Palram delivered a full solution with special panel-connectors rendering the roof immune to rain penetration and unnecessary leakage.

The package included aluminum glazing bars and all required screws, gaskets and washers for the 80,000 capacity stadium. This way the project team was able to avoid working with multiple providers. Palram also conducted regular site visits to ensure the supply of material and smooth execution of the correct installation methodology.

After replacing all 42,500 square-meters of damaged panels, the new roof install for the 14-story-high, 300-meter-long stadium was completed in late September 2017.