Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth - MJA Studio

Is it a stadium? Is it a swimming pool? No it's a mixed use surf park having an identity crisis!

'It’s not a crazy, billion dollar project, it’s feasible and we could get it going as soon as footy finishes' say MJA Studio

A 'bold' concept in Western Australia just caught our attention. The proposal is to turn a football stadium in the city of Subiaco, Perth, into a mixed-use complex with an artificial surf beach as the centrepiece.

Local architects MJA Studio have teamed up with Wave Park Group to transform Subiaco Oval – the highest capacity stadium in Western Australia and one of the country’s main stadiums – into what they call an inclusive urban landmark.

 

Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth -  MJA Studio
Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth - MJA Studio

This would be a place where “residents and guests experience life changing moments, have clean fun, get fit and feel connected through a shared passion or respect for each other and the planet”, say the architects (which sounds like a slightly up itself way to describe a wave pool but, we have to admit, it does look like a lot of fun).

The vision is that Subi Surf Park would deliver “the highest-quality man made waves on the planet”. It would comprise a 300m-long, 120m-wide fresh water lagoon whose wave-generating technology would create 2m-high waves that can travel 200m, for 30-second rides.

 

Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth -  MJA Studio
Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth - MJA Studio

The mixed-use element would include a market hall and plaza, hospitality and wellness venues, up to 200 dual-aspect apartments, a permanent home for the West Australian Football Hall of Fame, and a new elevated parkland.

“It’s not a crazy, billion dollar project, it’s feasible and something we could get going as soon as footy finishes if we have support from government,” says MJA Studio’s James Thompson of the Aus $120m scheme.

Subi Surf Park isn’t the only concept to come out of a local ideas competition to transform the Perth landmark. JCY Architects and Urban Designers suggest turning it into Perth’s answer to Silicon Valley, with a campus for education and innovation.

 

Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth -  MJA Studio
Mixed use complex with surf beach, Subiaco, Perth - MJA Studio

In the meantime, Subiaco Oval’s time is running out as an Australian Rules football venue. A new stadium by architects Hassell, Cox and HKS will open in 2018.

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