Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand, is the most southerly purpose-built stadium in the world. With the’s cold, damp, biting climate and the existing facilities increasingly not up to standard, the New Zealand Rugby Union decided that the city needed a new stadium, and Forsythr Stadium was completed in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

An all-weather venue was the sports ground of choice, but it was difficult to justify the cost of a single-purpose facility in a city the size Dunedin (population 11,900 at the time). It was agreed that the venue should be suitable for a variety of uses, including sports, culture entertainment and education. The challenge for the design team was to create a high-performance sports ground with a natural grass pitch under a completely fixed roof.

As the designer of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, POPULOUS, a world-leading sports architecture design company, has accumulated a wealth experience in designing covered sports venues around the world, which has brought valuable inspiration to the design and research team of this project. They spent two years researching different materials for the stadium roof and their impact on the growth of the grass, and found the ultimate solution: ETFE, a transparent polymer originally developed for the aerospace industry. The research results also clarified that main driving force of the stadium design is to maximize the level of sunlight and natural ventilation. ETFE covers the stadium roof and part of the facade, while the stands at the end of the stadium are designed to be lower to allow sunlight to shine on the field as much as possible. At the same time, the facades at both ends rise 5 above the ground to allow fresh air to pass through the stadium.

During the research and early design phases, POPULOUS also built an ETFE test bed on site, which was used to monitor the growth of the below and around it. As the testing phase was coming to an end, it was discovered that the turf below the structure was more robust and healthier than the surrounding turf, having with several high-impact tests by the local rugby team. This innovative testing process and the successful use of ETFE has also set a new benchmark for the viability of grass growth under enclosed in cold climates, such as North America and Northern Europe.

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