Sunshine Coast Stadium – design description

What does Sunshine Coast Stadium look like?

Sunshine Coast Stadium is located in Bokarina, a southern suburb of the Sunshine Coast located along the Pacific Ocean coastline. It is the main stadium of the Kawana Sport Precinct complex. The facility was built in 2007, initially as a modest pitch, which was enhanced in 2011 with the addition of an indoor stand to the west, capable of accommodating 1,046 spectators.

In late 2016 and early 2017, berms with gentle grassy slopes were created on the other sides of the pitch. Although these are not true stands, they allow matches to be watched by 10,000 or more spectators.

With the expansion, the stadium has grown to become the Sunshine Coast's premier facility, featuring a rectangular playing field for football and rugby. The facility has occasionally hosted A-League and National Rugby League matches, among others. In early 2020, the stadium received floodlighting.

What were the plans for further expansion of Sunshine Coast Stadium?

The local authorities were planning further expansion of the arena. A concept was presented in December 2019, according to which the capacity of the venue was to increase to 16,618 spectators. The stand was to receive new segments on the sides and its capacity would increase to 3,533 seats.

On the opposite side would stand a second, even higher, partially covered stand with a capacity of 8085 spectators. Behind the gates, there would still be hills from where the matches were to be watched by around 5,000 people.

The cost of the extension was estimated at A$ 68 million. 20 million was to come from the Queensland state budget, A$ 17 million from the Sunshine Coast and A$ 11 million was to be contributed by private donors. The missing A$ 20 million was intended to come from the federal budget, but the refusal put the whole project in doubt.

The local authorities did not give up, however, and in April 2021 presented an updated concept, which remained essentially unchanged in its main ideas.

What are the latest plans for Sunshine Coast Stadium?

In July 2021, Brisbane was announced as the host of the 2032 Summer Olympics, and Sunshine Coast Stadium was shortlisted as an Olympic football venue, resulting in the stadium expansion project receiving public funding: in May 2024, a total of A$148 million was allocated from the state and federal budgets.

In early 2023, another update of the stadium expansion concept was presented. It shows the stadium in a layout with new stands behind the goals, as temporary structures are to be erected there for the Games to increase the venue's capacity to 20,000 spectators.

Initially, a new indoor arena was also planned for the Games, to be built near the stadium. The hall was to have a capacity of 6,000 spectators, and would have hosted basketball games during the Olympics. However, when the 2032 Delivery Plan was announced in March 2025, the hall was missing from the list of Olympic venues, meaning that the facility would most likely not be built at all.

The 2032 Delivery Plan also presented another rendering of the expanded stadium (in a configuration without the temporary stands behind the goals). The assumptions remain similar to the original plans, although the main stand is to be built from scratch, and the two permanent stands will hold slightly fewer spectators – 10,680. The additional temporary stands to be built for the Games are still expected to raise capacity to around 20,000 seats.

When will Sunshine Coast Stadium be expanded?

Expansion of Sunshine Coast Stadium was scheduled to begin in 2024, but due to problems with the awarding of the construction contract, the project is about a year behind schedule and is now assumed to be completed between 2025 and 2028.