A vision for the precinct surrounding Hobart’s imminent Macquarie Point Stadium has been released, showing the size and location of future development surrounding the stadium, while two preferred proponents have been named to deliver the new venue.
The Tasmanian government’s newly released masterplan report, developed by principal stadium architect Cox Architecture, local practice Cumulus Studio, urban design specialists Realm Studios and Irene Inc, and sustainability specialists Jensen Hughes and SLR Consulting, will make it a “vibrant, mixed-use precinct,” the government has said.
Minister for Macquarie Point Urban Renewal Eric Abetz commented, “This holistic masterplan brings together jobs, housing, construction, residential and retail offerings, and everything in between.”
“It demonstrates how each component will work together … and how this industrial wasteland will be transformed.”
Due to open by the 2031 Australian Football League (AFL) season, the stadium was greenlit by the Tasmanian government in December last year, despite having been significantly contested by local experts with respect to its cost, scale and location at Macquarie Point.
The Tasmanian Planning Commission’s independent assessment of the project in September 2025 commented that “it will irrevocably change, for the worse in the opinion of the panel, the way in which the landscape and urban pattern is appreciated and understood.”
Similar concerns were echoed by architect Mat Hinds in a discussion piece for ArchitectureAu, in which he noted that “the proposed stadium site is girdled by an immovable perimeter of fine-grained, highly sensitive civic, archaeological, ceremonial and portside interfaces” and that plans for “an entertainment and sports precinct equivalent in scale to two entire city blocks means that the urban realm – existing and envisaged – will become frontal, narrow and unmediated.”
Replacing earlier masterplan iterations for the site, and aligning with the August 2024 Mac Point Precinct Plan, led by Cox Architecture as principal consultant, the new report includes commercial, retail and hospitality offerings, and a zone for supporting Antarctic logistics, in the precinct’s east, alongside a west-facing “Aboriginal culturally informed zone,” shaped in consultation with the local Indigenous community.
Along the precinct’s north-eastern foreshore, the masterplan also shows capacity to accommodate approximately 100 dwellings in six-storey residential buildings.
The report has been released ahead of an update to the planning scheme, which will involve Hobart City Council as the planning authority, and include public consultation on the submission, which is expected in the second half of this year.
Meanwhile, the Macquarie Point Development Corporation (MPDC) has announced Besix Watpac, and Constructure Joint Venture, comprising Webuild and China Construction Oceania with McConnell Dowell as a key partner, as the two parties selected for the first stage of the request for tender process to deliver the new stadium.
According to an article from the ABC, the next stage of the process will involve a discussion between each of the competing proponents with the stadium’s design team, so that they can prepare a delivery program and estimated price.
The Tasmanian government’s masterplan can be accessed online.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
