Baldivis District Sports Complex
The Baldivis District Sports Complex is a highly valued open space precinct, rich in amenities and biodiversity. UDLA's involvement in the project began with the masterplan and continued through to detailed design and construction. Throughout all stages, UDLA focused on tree retention, best-practice water-sensitive urban design, and enhancing the site's unique sense of place.
The Baldivis District Sports Complex is a multipurpose recreation facility and community hub in one of Perth’s fastest-growing suburbs.
In the project’s earliest stages, UDLA was part of the interdisciplinary team, led by Hames Sharley, that developed the detailed masterplan for the site. The design considered key factors, including environmentally significant vegetation (over 500 trees), the unique landform, wetland buffer, bushfire setbacks, and the existing residential interface. Through rigorous analysis, including a review of the site’s context, sporting participation trends, benchmarking, and concept testing, the team created a comprehensive masterplan that balances functionality with site responsiveness.
Building on our involvement in the Detailed Masterplan, UDLA collaborated with SITE Architecture to advance the project into detailed design and construction. The resulting complex includes a District Pavilion, flexible playing fields, a Junior Pavilion, 18 multi-purpose hard courts, and a central community hub with an Indoor Recreation Centre, café, nature play area, and skate park.
“The Baldivis District Sports Complex creates a connectivity between interior and exterior rarely encountered in such facilities. The main sports hall allows continual views to existing mature trees and sky while allowing visitors to visually participate in the on-court activities while being safely protected by surrounding mesh.”
2024 Western Australia Architecture Awards Jury Citation
A raised pedestrian spine links all key elements of the site, while an informal recreational path network connects to a retained, heavily vegetated ‘bush block’. Additionally, 450 parking bays are set among mature trees and vegetated swales.
Importantly, the plan was designed to retain 65% of the vegetation and incorporate blue-green infrastructure features to minimise surface run-off and enhance local stormwater infiltration. The result is a biodiversity-positive landscape that is already a much-loved asset for its community.
Awards:
Australian Institute of Architects, Brian Kidd Enabling Architecture Prize (WA), Public Architecture - 2024
WA Football Commission - Football Facility of the Year Award - 2023
Ken Gannon Community Football Facilities Awards - Joint National Winner - 2023
Details:
Client: City of Rockingham
Aboriginal Country: Whadjuk-Binjareb Noongar Country
Location: Baldivis, WA
Dates: 2018 (Masterplan), 2019 - 2024 (Concept Design through to Construction)
Design team: SITE Architecture (Architects), UDLA (Landscape Architects), Hames Sharley & UDLA (Masterplan)
Collaborators: Altus Group (Quantity Surveyor), BGE (Structural Engineer), CADDS Group (ESD Consultant) Complywest (Building Surveyor), Equal Access (Access Consultant), ESC Engineering (Electrical Consultant), Gabriels Hearne Farrell (Acoustic Consultant), JMG Fire solutions (Fire Engineer), Prichard Francis (Civil Consultant), Security Consulting Group, (Security Consultant), TABE Engineers (Mechanical Engineer), Volume (Hydraulic Consultant)
Image credits: Dion Robeson, SITE Architecture, Hames Sharley, UDLA.
